EC Secretary Stresses Forcing US to Lift Sanctions Through Empowering National Economy

Rezayee said on Saturday that the Iranian nation and government should do their best to force Washington to lift the economic sanctions, adding, “State-owned economy is inefficient and people themselves must take part in the national economy by accepting responsibility and authority.”

He went on to say that sanctions showed the deficiencies of the country’s economy and noted that the ailing economy must be reconstructed.

The official stressed that Iran needs creative managers to make best use of the available resources.

Iran signed the JCPOA with six world states — namely the US, Germany, France, Britain, Russia, and China — in 2015. 

US President Donald Trump, a stern critic of the historic deal, unilaterally pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018, and unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against the Islamic Republic in defiance of global criticism in an attempt to strangle the Iranian oil trade, but to no avail since its "so-called maximum pressure policy" has failed to push Tehran to the negotiating table.

In response to the US’ unilateral move, Tehran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments four times in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA, but stressed that its retaliatory measures will be reversible as soon as Europe finds practical ways to shield the mutual trade from the US sanctions.

Tehran has particularly been disappointed with failure of the three European signatories to the JCPOA -- Britain, France and Germany -- to protect its business interests under the deal after the United States' withdrawal.

On January 5, Iran took a final step in reducing its commitments, and said it would no longer observe any operational limitations on its nuclear industry, whether concerning the capacity and level of uranium enrichment, the volume of stockpiled uranium or research and development.

Meantime, US President-elect Joe Biden has recently said in a CNN article that he wants a renegotiation of the contents of the deal before he agrees to rejoin the agreement.

“I will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy. If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deal's provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern,” he wrote, mentioning that he wants changes to the contents of the nuclear deal and guarantees from Tehran that it would be open for compromise to strike multiple deals over its missile and regional powers as well as a number of other issues that have been the bones of contention between the two sides in the last four decades.

In response, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had stressed that the US has violated the nuclear deal and is in no position to ask for any conditions for its return to the JCPOA, adding that it's Tehran that has its own terms to allow the US back into the internationally endorsed agreement.

The foreign minister has reiterated time and again that Tehran would not change even a single word of the agreement, and cautioned the US that it needs to pay reparations for the damage it has inflicted on Iran through its retreat from the nuclear agreement and give enough guarantees that it would not go for initiating the trigger mechanism again before it could get back to the deal.

In relevant remarks on Wednesday December 16, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei advised the Iranian officials not to trust the enemy, reminding them that the administration of former US democrat President Barack Obama also showed many hostilities towards the Iranian nation.

He added that the three European states, Britain, France and Germany, which participated in nuclear talks with Iran, also displayed maximum hypocrisy and lack of action in implementation of their nuclear deal undertakings.

“Lifting sanctions is up to the enemy but nullifying them is up to us,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

“We must be strong in all areas, including economy, science, technology and defense, because as long as we do not grow strong, the enemies will not give up greed and aggression,” he added.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution added, “Of course, we do not mean that we should not seek to have the sanctions lifted, because if the sanctions can be lifted, we should not hesitate for even an hour. However, this has been delayed for four years now. Since 2016 when all sanctions were supposed to be lifted at once, not only have they not been lifted, they have even increased.”

As a final point, Ayatollah Khamenei told his audience, “If the sanctions can be lifted in a correct, wise, Iranian-Islamic, and dignified manner, this should be done. But our main focus should be on neutralizing the sanctions, and the initiative for this is in your hands."