Liberman lauds 'critical blow' of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran as Rouhani defiant

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country would continue to sell its oil, while Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said sanctions crippled the country's presence in the region.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERS
Updated: NOVEMBER 5, 2018 10:23
Guards chief says Iran will resist, defeat U.S. sanctions, Novmber 4, 2018 (Reuters)
DUBAI - Iran will sell its oil and break sanctions reimposed by the United States on its vital energy and banking sectors, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told economists at a meeting broadcast live on state television on Monday. In Israel, the news was welcomed as a "critical blow" to the country's support of terror in the region.
"America wanted to cut to zero Iran's oil sales ... but we will continue to sell our oil ... to break sanctions," Rouhani said.
Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman praised the re-introduction of US sanction on Iran, calling the move a "critical blow" to Iranian presence in the Middle East.
"President Trump's bold decision is the sea-change the Middle East has been waiting for. In a single move, the United States is dealing a critical blow to Iran's entrenchment in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Yemen. President Trump, you've done it again! Thank you," he wrote in English on Twitter.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon welcomed the renewed US sanctions: "The sanctions policy is working and suffocating the Iranian regime - we see it on the ground, in the economy and in the fear of the regime," Danon said in a statement.
Calling on the world to join the sanctions, Dannon added that "wherever there is terrorism, there is also an Iranian fingerprint. Therefore, Europe and other countries must join the United States in order to create a united front for the stability of the Middle East and the world at large. From today, the world will have to choose a side - the US or Iran."
In May, US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of world powers' 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimposed a first round of sanctions on Iran in August.
The deal saw most international financial and economic sanctions on Iran lifted in return for Tehran curbing its disputed nuclear activity under UN surveillance.
"Today the enemy (the United States) is targeting our economy ... the main target of sanctions is our people," Rouhani said.

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China, India, South Korea, Japan and Turkey - all top importers of Iranian oil - are among eight countries expected to be given temporary exemptions from the sanctions to ensure crude oil prices are not destabilized.