TEHRAN – Abolfazl Amouei, the spokesman for the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Monday that Iran has found ways to get around U.S. sanctions and tackle economic challenges.

“The other side has been reneging over the past years, inflicting heavy losses by imposing sanctions on the Iranian nation and government, and even blocking access to humanitarian goods such as food and medicine. Of course, the country has found ways to circumvent sanctions and solve problems, but the point is that U.S. policy has caused damages to the country that must be compensated by the other side,” Amouei said in an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The lawmaker stressed the importance of using domestic capacities and increasing interaction with neighbors to prevent the impact of sanctions on the country's economy and counter U.S. policies.

He added, “Asian countries are a unique opportunity for the Islamic Republic to revive its economy and create new capacity.”

According to Amouei, Iran should place overcoming the U.S. sanctions high on its agenda in such circumstances.

“We must strengthen the domestic economy in such a way as to eliminate the effect of sanctions. In other words, when the country's domestic economy is strengthened, no foreign power can use its power to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Amouei pointed out that if Iran boosts domestic production, countries using sanctions in their foreign policy will be unable to impose sanctions on Iran.

In 2010, the Americans threatened to impose sanctions on the import of gasoline to Iran but when Iran built the Persian Gulf Star refinery, the country’s gasoline production capacity increased in such a way that Iran was no longer in need of importing gasoline and thus the option of sanctioning Iran’s gasoline imports was removed from the U.S. table, according to Amouei.

“This strategy can be effective against countries that try to use sanctions against Iran, so the country's economic sectors are expected to strengthen domestic production,” he stated.

The lawmaker also pointed to U.S. presidential election, saying this election provides a good opportunity for the U.S. to reconsider its “hostile policy” against Iran.

“The Americans should ultimately abandon the maximum pressure policy against Iran. The coming election is a good opportunity for the U.S. to reconsider its hostile policy against Iran,” Amouei remarked. “Democrat candidate Joe Biden said in a recent interview with CNN that he was also seeking to put pressure on Iran, with the only difference being that he would take smarter steps.”

The lawmaker said, “On the other hand, the positions of Biden advisers such as Anthony Blinken and Jake Sullivan show that the policy of the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in hostility toward the Iranian nation is similar to Trump's position, and they also seek to exploit economic pressure against the republic Islamic of Iran.”

Amouei responded to a Trump claim that Iran will call and ask him to make a new deal with it if he wins the election.

“Trump claims that, if he wins the coming election, he will receive a call from Iran within a week. But it’s better for him to know that he will not receive such a call. Rather, he will have to reconsider his foreign policy,” Amouei suggested.

SM/PA