BEIJING (Dispatches) --
President Ebrahim Raisi says the United States and its Western allies sought to stop the Iranian nation’s advancement through sanctions but failed in their attempts, describing the coercive measures as another form of warfare against the country.
“In essence, this is also a form of war. The only difference is that the method has changed from the military force to sanctions regimes. Sanctions are incredibly cruel. Essential medications needed by patients, including drugs for treating children with the butterfly skin disease, have been added to the list of sanctioned data-x-items against Iran. This has caused immense sufferings for patients and their families. They also sanctioned COVID-19 vaccines,” he told China’s English-language CGTN television news network.
“When I met with the secretary-general of the United Nations [António Guterres] in New York, I brought up this issue. He expressed his apologies, saying that despite his best efforts, he could not persuade the United States to lift the ban on vaccine exports to Iran.”
“Everyone knows that sanctions hurt ordinary people. They say the sanctions only target the Iranian government, but it is the people who bear the brunt of their cruel impact,” Raisi said.
“They (American politicians) and their supporters often say that the Iranian government will be gone in six months, or in the year of such and such. But now more than 40 years have passed. It is those who made such claims that are gone. Some have passed away, while some have left office. But our Islamic establishment exists with great vitality. The U.S. wanted to hamper our development through sanctions . But our people, especially our youths, have neither become discouraged nor stopped moving forward,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Raisi pointed to Vienna negotiations on the salvage of the 2015 nuclear deal -- officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) -- and removal of anti-Iran sanctions.
“They (Western parties to the accord) claim to be looking for an agreement, but what we see is that their actions do not correspond to their allegations. While Iran has declared its resolve to reach a good agreement, they do not follow the suit. They have both gone back on their pledges and withdrawn from the JCPOA. They have also left the negotiating table and announced interest to pursue their goals on streets and instigate chaos than to engage in talks,” Raisi said.
“What we see in the behavior of the current U.S. administration led by President Joe Biden is no different from those of its predecessors,” the Iranian president said.