TEHRAN - Kamal Kharrazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said on Thursday that the Iranians have stood unitedly against the U.S. pressures and sanctions.

“The Iranian society has stood against the U.S. pressure unitedly and is making efforts to overcome problems by relying on domestic resources and friendly countries’ help,” Kharrazi said during a meeting with a number of Austrian political figures and intellectuals in Vienna.

He noted that most of the current problems Iran is facing have been caused by the U.S. sanctions, however, he predicted that problems will be overcome through unity.

In May, U.S. President Donald Trump officially withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and ordered sanctions on Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were announced on November 4.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Iran will “break sanctions proudly”, because they are “cruel” and against law.

Kharrazi urges end to war in Yemen

In a separate meeting with former Austrian President Heinz Fischer, on Friday Kharrazi urged the international community to end the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Kharrazi, who was Iran’s foreign minister from 1997 to 2005, described the Yemeni war as “cruel” and criticized lack of the global attention to it.

For his part, Fischer called for a halt to shipment of weapons to countries pounding Yemen. 

Since the beginning of the Saudi-led aggression against Yemen in March 2015, the country has been grappling with a humanitarian disaster.

The Saudi-led coalition backed by the U.S. started the war on Yemen with the aim of reinstating ousted president Mansour Hadi. The war has led to famine and spread of cholera in the poor country. The UN is calling it “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

NA/PA