TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani says his administration will make use of every opportunity in order to lift the U.S. sanctions against Iran.

“Whenever we see that there’s a situation for the lifting of sanctions, we will make use of that,” Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “Our goal is that cruel sanctions would be lifted.”

He also said the world is faced with new conditions with the defeat of Donald Trump, adding that it would enable the Islamic Republic to strengthen relations with friends and neighbors, Tasnim reported.

Iran’s foreign relations are based upon ties with neighbors and friends, he added, noting that the termination of Trump’s administration, which was an obstacle to Iran’s relations with other countries, would pave the way for the Iranian relations.

“We established good relations with certain neighbors such as Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan over the past years, as well as with other friendly countries like Russia, China and others. I feel that the atmosphere for closer relations with all of our friends is more prepared.”

Rouhani also said his American counterpart’s administration that sought the fall of the Iranian establishment has faced a “humiliating” defeat itself.

The Trump administration that dreamed about the collapse of the Iranian establishment has been toppled humiliatingly, the president pointed out.

Last week, Rouhani said the next American administration will have no option but to surrender to the Iranian nation.

Meanwhile, Hossein Mousavian, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator and a Princeton University research scholar, has advised against an extreme form of optimism on the Iranian side over Joe Biden’s victory.

“Biden’s victory is an opportunity, but we shouldn’t get delusional,” Mousavian said in an interview with Hamshahri published on Wednesday.

“We shouldn’t think that if Biden returns to Barjam (nuclear deal), it means that he will not support the Zionist regime anymore or he will cut ties with the Saudis,” he said.

However, he continued, the issue of Biden’s victory and its outcome for Iran is boiled down to one point which is de-escalation of tensions between Tehran and Washington, which is an opportunity for Iran.

MH/PA