TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani says the next U.S. administration will succumb in the face of the Iranian nation's resilience.

"Undoubtedly, the next U.S. administration will succumb in the face of the Iranian nation," Rouhani said on Thursday, adding that the U.S. has no option but to submit to the rule of law and the Iranian nation's patience and resistance.

He made the remarks while addressing an inauguration ceremony on major water supply project.

He shrugged off the outcome of the November 3 presidential elections in the United States, saying Iran moves forward irrespective of who runs the White House.

"I'm sure that the Iranian nation will emerge victorious in the end," he added.

Tensions soared between Tehran and Washington since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal on May 8, 2018. The U.S. president not only exited the deal but has since targeted Iran with a series of harsh economic bans. Trump has called the sanctions his "maximum pressure" campaign aimed at forcing Iran to renegotiate the nuclear deal.

Rouhani described as "unprecedented in Iran’s history," the hardship that came to face Iran during Trump's tenure in terms of the American economic war and the outbreak of the new coronavirus. 

The country has always been struggling with economic hardship but never an economic war of such scale, he added.

The Trump administration brutally escalated the economic war against Iran even as the Islamic Republic was battling an uphill struggle against the novel coronavirus, Rouhani said.

"Our nation both withstood the coronavirus and confronted sanctions and adversities," he added.

The president also pointed out that the Iranian people managed to stand tall notwithstanding the hard times, saying, "I’m under no illusion about the government and people’s success."

President Rouhani had made similar remarks a day earlier.

"Our economic decisions in the last few weeks were made without regarding who will be elected in the U.S.," Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning.

"We don't care what would happen in the U.S. and who would be elected. However, their election was a lesson-teaching moment from several perspectives," he said.

The president said Iran wants the U.S. to return to international law and respect the Iranian nation. "We want respect to replace sanctions," he said.

He said if the U.S. chooses the path to respect Iran instead of imposing sanctions, the situation will change.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the statements by Joe Biden with regard to Iran have been more promising than those of the incumbent Donald Trump.

"The statements by the Biden camp have been more promising, but we will have to wait and see," Zarif said in an interview with CBS News.

He made the remarks when pushed to pick one of the two U.S. presidential candidates. Zarif initially insisted that Tehran has no preference between Trump or Biden.

He emphasized that it's not what the new administration says during the campaign that counts, but what it does in office.

"What is important for us is how the White House behaves after the election, not what promises are there, what slogans are made. The behavior of the U.S. is important. If the U.S. decides to stop its malign behavior against Iran, then it will be a different story no matter who sits in the White House," the chief Iranian diplomat said.

MH/PA