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Iran: We have various options to neutralise 'illegal' US sanctions

February 23, 2019 at 12:48 pm

Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a gathering with Iranian Air Force officers and the personnel in Tehran, Iran on February 8, 2019 [IRAN’S RELIGIOUS LEADER PRESS OFFICE / HANDOUT – Anadolu Agency]

Iran said on Saturday it had many options to neutralise the reimposition of US sanctions on its oil exports, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, adding that Tehran’s clerical rulers had no plans to hold talks with Washington.

“Apart from closing Strait of Hormuz, we have other options to stop oil flow if threatened… The US administration lacks ‘goodwill’, no need to hold talks with America,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani told Tasnim. Shamkhani added:

Iran has plans in place that will neutralise the illegal US sanctions against Iran’s oil exports

Tensions between Iran and the United States increased after US President Donald Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers last May, and then reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Read: EU starts scheme to bypass US sanctions on Iran

Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

Iranian officials have threatened to disrupt oil shipments from the Gulf countries if Washington tries to strangle Tehran’s oil exports.

Carrying one-third of the world’s seaborne oil every day, the Strait of Hormuz links Middle East crude producers to key markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and beyond.

Shamkhani also said Iran has achieved 90 percent of its goals in Syria, Tasnim reported.

The threat of direct confrontation between arch-enemies Israel and Iran has long simmered in Syria, where the Iranian military built a presence early in the nearly eight-year civil war to help President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Read: Iran still holding up its end of nuclear deal, IAEA report shows