Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday the Islamic Republic does not “let the autocrats at the White House smile” because of the stern national resolve to thwart “hostility to Iranian people.”
He also boasted production levels stand at an all time high in defiance of comprehensive U.S. sanctions, according to the official IRNA news source. The report continued:
Iran will well breeze through the problems and not let the U.S. wrong policies get effective.
Sanctions and unprecedented pressures cannot bring the Iranian nation to their knees, the president said. Talking of the coronavirus pandemic which has killed near 320,000 across the world, and more than 7,100 in Iran, the president said the COVID-19 cannot bring to a halt “our manufacturing sector”.
Of course, coronavirus and U.S. pressures may affect the process of achievement, but they cannot stop it. We continue our production.
Iran later dismissed a fresh round of U.S. sanctions on several Iranian officials, saying they were a sign of failure by Washington, state television reported.
“Washington’s fruitless and repetitive sanctions against Iranian officials is a sign of weakness, despair and confusion of the U.S. administration,” state TV quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi as saying.
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on several Iranian authorities, including the interior minister, accusing them of engaging in serious cases of human rights abuse.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli gave orders authorising the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) of Iran to use lethal force in response to anti-government protests in November, leading to the killing of protesters, including at least 23 minors.