‘Americans enmeshed in very tough situation’

Rouhani’s reaction to US presidential debate: TEHRAN, Sep. 30 (MNA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has pointed to the first debate of US Presidential candidates, noting that ‘Americans are enmeshed in a very tough situation’. Speaking in a Wednesday’s cabinet session, Rouhani pointed to the history of US measures against Iran, saying, “Americans are seeking […]

TEHRAN, Sep. 30 (MNA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has pointed to the first debate of US Presidential candidates, noting that ‘Americans are enmeshed in a very tough situation’.

Speaking in a Wednesday’s cabinet session, Rouhani pointed to the history of US measures against Iran, saying, “Americans are seeking to devise new plots every day.”

“Americans have been enmeshed in a very tough situation. If you have listened to last night’s debate or have followed up the issue on media, you have seen what a tough situation they have.”

“On the one hand, they had the worst management of the coronavirus and on the other, unemployment has increased. On the one hand, domestic unrest had exacerbated and on the other, they have had no achievement in their foreign policy.”

Rouhani noted that the Trump administration’s policies have not only failed against Iran but also against Europe and the Asia Pacific.

“It is normal for a country that has a lot of problems inside to divert these to the outside world.”

Elsewhere, he said that despite the US unilateral sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran is seeing an increase of production in industrial sectors. Rouhani said that the output in steel, auto, and petrochemical industries have grown in the past five months as compared to the same period last year.

The President referred to “non-oil exports and its importance during the oil embargo” and said, “Oil and gas exports and oil condensate in the past years provided the currency needed by the country, but now that we are facing problems, this task is on the shoulders of non-oil exports.”

“Please note that the economic war has taken place in these three years, and what happened in the past was sanctions and not an economic war. Under those conditions, the government exported at least one million barrels of oil per day, and its average price was above $100, and at times it even reached $120, and our banks did not face the situation today,” the President’s press service quoted him as saying.

“Of course, in the 11th government, we were removed from the FATF blacklist and the situation improved, although we had problems twice because, despite the government’s insistence and the meeting of the three branches to implement the four bills faster, some of them faced some problems.”

The President said, “In any case, today non-oil exports are providing the currency needed by the country, which is mainly on the shoulders of industry and to some extent agriculture and services.”

“The provision of basic and essential goods is very important for us, and thank God, in the difficult conditions that coronavirus has created for us, our efforts to provide the health and medical goods needed by the people were right.”

“We must explain the facts to the people as they are. Sanctions have been in place for years, but the economic war has been going on since 2018. Let us not make mistakes and distort the address and date, and instead tell the facts to the people, which of course does not mean that we are scared and retreated in the face of enemy conspiracies.”

“It is true that the government’s view is that we must interact with the world, we will repeat it a thousand more times. We said ‘constructive interaction’, and the Supreme Leader corrected it and said ‘extensive constructive interaction’, so we should have extensive constructive interaction with the world.”

“We should talk about the problems, but also explain to the people what has been done and let the people know the facts of our situation. If someone says that all the problems are on the shoulders of the executive management and the government, it is wrong. We all have a heavy burden today. This heavy burden must be borne by the three branches, the armed forces and our dear people until we reach our destination.”