TEHRAN – Hesamoddin Ashna, a senior cultural advisor to the president, has said the Rouhani administration’s strategy in dealing with U.S. conspiracies is to prevent war and also try to foil the sanctions.

In an interview with Tasnim published on Tuesday, Ashna said the administration is adopting a double-edged strategy to counter the United States’ hostile measures.

“Firstly, we will not allow a war to take place in the region, and secondly, we will not tolerate remaining under sanctions.”

“Our response to the United States is no to war and no to sanctions,” the adviser recounted.

He added that Washington seeks to raise the specter of war in order to force Tehran to cave in to the pressure of sanctions and agree to hold talks.

Ashna says “strengthening internal unity” is the sole option for advancing a policy that aims to prevent the U.S. from threatening Iran with a war and also to foil the sanctions.

The comments came a week after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out the possibility of war between the United States and Iran despite heightened tensions between the two sides.

The Leader said any confrontation between the U.S. and Iran would not be “a military one,” and that “there was not going to be any war.”

“The Iranian nation’s definite option will be resistance in the face of the U.S., and in this confrontation, the U.S. would be forced into a retreat,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. “Neither we nor they, who know war will not be in their interest, are after war.”

Ayatollah Khamenei further explained that the confrontation between the two sides is “a clash of wills,” asserting that Iran would be the ultimate victor of this battle.

The Leader also ruled out any negotiation with the U.S. as long as Washington sticks with its hostile approach against the Islamic Republic, saying Washington would be attempting to undermine Iran’s “points of strength,” such as its defensive power or its strategic regional influence, in any such interaction. 

MH/PA