On Monday, the US announced a new raft of sanctions and threatened further action to pressure its old adversary.
By REUTERSUpdated: NOVEMBER 6, 2018 11:01Rouhani says Iran will break US sanctions, November 5, 2018 (Reuters)
“I told all the world leaders I met in the UN General Assembly that this time we will break the US sanctions with pride because it is cruel, and is against the law and treaties and against the UN resolution,” Rouhani said. “And everyone should do the same. According to [UN] resolution 2231, all world countries are obliged to stand up against America. We should completely break this sanction and will do so with the help of God, with the help of people, and with unity in our society. We should make the Americans understand clearly that they cannot talk to the Iranian nation using the language of force, threat, pressure, and sanction. Americans should be punished once and forever.”On Monday, the US announced a new raft of sanctions and threatened further action to pressure its old adversary.The move is part of a wider effort by US President Donald Trump to curb Tehran’s missile and nuclear program and diminish the Islamic Republic’s influence in the Middle East. This follows Washington’s withdrawal from an 2015 international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.The US will temporarily allow eight importers to continue buying Iranian oil. China, India, South Korea, Japan and Turkey, who are all top importers are among the eight countries expected to be given temporary exemptions from sanctions in order to ensure crude oil prices are not destabilized.“The Islamic Republic of Iran can sell its oil today – and will continue selling if God wills. We would have sold our oil even if they had not issued waivers for eight countries,” Rouhani said.The UN should hold the US accountable for re-imposing sanctions on Monday to choke off Iran’s oil and shipping industry, measures that defy a UN Security Council resolution, Iran’s UNAmbassador wrote in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.“The irresponsible conduct of the United States necessitates a collective response by the international community in order to uphold the rule of law, to prevent undermining diplomacy and to protect multilateralism,” Iranian UN Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo wrote, calling for the United States to be held responsible.Reuters contributed to this report.