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Tehran (AFP)
Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that Washington’s hostility towards Tehran will not end with Donald Trump’s departure from the White House, while President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran is “very happy” with him. end of the mandate of the US president, who adopted a policy of “maximum pressure” and economic sanctions against him.
About a month before Joe Biden took office as president of the United States, Khamenei renewed the call to work locally to neutralize the impact of harsh economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Tehran, while stressing the need not to delay if there is an opportunity to lift them.
In 2015, Iran concluded an agreement with the major powers regarding its nuclear program, which led to the lifting of many of the sanctions that were imposed on it, in exchange for ensuring the tranquility of its nuclear activities. But Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the agreement signed under his predecessor Barack Obama and reimposed tough economic sanctions on Iran.
Khamenei said, “You saw what the United States did to you Trump and what the United States did to you Obama,” in remarks posted on his official website in Persian.
“Hostilities are not limited to Trump’s America and will not end with his departure,” he added.
Trump lost an election last month to Biden, who served as vice president under Barack Obama.
The president-elect, who will officially take office on January 20, hinted at his intention to “change course” with Iran and activate diplomacy.
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that the president-elect intends to start new negotiations with Tehran after returning to the nuclear deal.
The Supreme Leader’s remarks came on Wednesday, shortly after President Hassan Rouhani confirmed that his country was “very happy” with the end of the Trump era.
“Some people say that we are excited about the arrival of Mr. Biden. No, we are not, but we are very happy that Trump is leaving,” Rouhani said during a televised address on the sidelines of the weekly cabinet meeting.
He added: “We are very happy because this brave man was shot down (…) Praise God, these are his last days,” describing him as “the most law-breaking president” and a “criminal and terrorist.”
– “Even for an hour” –
The Iranian president previously saw in Biden’s victory an “opportunity” for the United States to make up for its “past mistakes” with regard to the Islamic Republic.
For his part, Khamenei reiterated on Wednesday the importance of neutralizing the sanctions, which had a negative impact on the Iranian economy and the exchange rate of the local currency.
The guide said that “lifting the sanctions is in the hands of the enemies, but neutralizing them depends on us.”
But Khamenei emphasized that “of course, I am not saying that we should not work to lift the sanctions, and if we can do so, we should not delay it even one hour.
He added: “Don’t trust the promises of (others) to solve people’s problems, and don’t forget enmities.”
Relations between Tehran and Washington, severed four decades ago, witnessed an increase in tension during the Trump era, which began in early 2017, especially after the assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani in an American airstrike near the airport of Baghdad in the early morning of January 3, accompanied by a vice president. The Iraqi People’s Mobilization Authority, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis.
Khamenei’s comments came today while receiving a delegation from the Soleimani family and the organizing committee for the commemorations of the first anniversary of his assassination.
Days after the assassination of one of its most prominent military leaders, Iran attacked military bases in Iraq where US soldiers were present. Tehran has since repeated that its revenge for Soleimani’s death is yet to be completed.
“Whoever ordered and carried out the assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani must pay the price, and this revenge will be inevitable at any available opportunity,” Khamenei said in his remarks on Wednesday.
Today’s meeting is the first activity announced by the guide since a member of his office confirmed last week that Khamenei was “in good health” after rumors of a deterioration in his health.
The guide’s office released a video tape showing him entering the meeting room behind a curtain, before he stepped forward and sat in his chair with greetings waiting for him, including members of the Soleimani family, the commander of the Guard. Revolutionary, Major General Hossein Salami, and the head of the Council of the Iranian Shura, Muhammad Baqer Qalibaf.
© 2020 AFP
