Iran dares US, Pompeo shoots warning
TEHRAN/BRUSSELS: Accusing the US of trying to push India away from Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Washington cannot stop Tehran from exporting oil and warned that no crude will be exported from the Persian Gulf if Iranian oil sales were blocked.
The US has re-imposed its unilateral sanctions on Iran, including an oil embargo, after withdrawing in May from the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major world powers earlier in defiance of international objections.
Washington had initially vowed to reduce Iran’s oil sales to “zero”, but later backed down and granted waivers to almost all of Tehran’s major crude buyers.
“The US should know this that we sell and will sell our oil and it will not be able to block Iran’s oil exports. And it should also know that if it attempts to stop Iran’s oil (sales) someday, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf,” Rouhani said during a speech in Semnan province’s Shahroud city.
“We will expand our relationship with neighbours, the Muslim countries and the world,” Rouhani was quoted as saying by Press TV.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo mounted a staunch defence of US foreign policy on Tuesday, arguing that Washington is building a world order to fight cynical abuses by Iran, Russia and China.
On a visit to Brussels, the former CIA chief took aim at European critics who accuse the US of undermining global institutions. “Bad actors have exploited our lack of leadership for their own gain,” Pompeo told a gathering of diplomats in the European capital. “This is the poisoned fruit of American retreat.”