Hemmati Says US Pressure Tactics in Vain

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the International Qods Day rally in Tehran on Friday, Abdolnasser Hemmati said none of the hostile US measures can hurt the alternative money channels. 

“US and its allies were planning to bring Iran to its knees last year. Their attempts failed and our [economic] conditions is more stable today,” IRNA quoted him as saying. 

Iran is in talks with trade partners and other regional and non-regional states to find ways to bypass the tough US restrictions. Non-dollar trade like barter deals, are among options under serious consideration, according to Financial Tribune.

Hemmati pointed to the emergency Arab summit hosted by Iran’s arch nemesis Suadi Arabia, a staunch US ally, saying the unending American ploys signify the failure of its so-called maximum pressure on Tehran. 

He was alluding to the Saudi King Salman’s harsh rhetoric against Iran during Friday’s Arab summit in the holy city of Mecca where the ailing ruler blamed Iran for the recent attacks on some Saudi oil pipeline and ships near the UAE coast. 

The US re-sanctioned Iran after unilaterally withdrawing last May from the 2015 historic nuclear deal Iran signed with the six world powers and has said it wants to reduce “Iran’s oil exports to zero.” 

Hemmati said earlier that since the beginning of the current fiscal (March 21) up until May 31, the CBI had allocated $8.3 billion for importing essential goods,  pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.  

“This is while the Americans have exercised their maximum pressures,” he wrote in his Instagram post. 

Of the mentioned figure, $3 billion was sourced from repatriation of export earnings and $800 million from the CBI’s currency repatriation framework that allows exporters to use part of their overseas earnings to import goods for themselves or third parties.