TEHRAN - Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, said on Tuesday that enemies spend $100 billion annually to counter Islam and the Islamic Revolution.

“Our enemies from the Zionist regime and the U.S. to Saudi Arabia and the (United Arab) Emirates spend at least 100 billion dollars annually in military area for animosity towards Islam and the Islamic Revolution,” he said during a conference at Shahid Sattari University of Aeronautical Engineering.

He noted that the Islamic Revolution brought “freedom and self-sufficiency” for the Iranian people and the enemies have spared no efforts in enmity towards the people.

Pointing to Europe’s financial mechanisms to save the 2015 nuclear deal, he said, “It has been for several months that Europe has not been able to establish a company and find an economic strategy to do financial interaction with Iran and counter the U.S. threats.”

He added that Iran takes its own decisions in this situation.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. unilaterally from the 2015 nuclear deal in May and ordered sanctions against 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 snapped back on November 4.

France, Germany, and Britain officially announced on Thursday the creation of INSTEX, a special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating legitimate trade between European economic operators and Iran. 

Iranians believe that the financial mechanism fall far short of expectations. 

The Foreign Ministry has even criticized the European Union for linking implementation of INSTEX to approval of the FATF by Iran. 

NA/PA