TEHRAN - Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said on Monday that the U.S. officials are lying when they say that their sanctions target Iran’s government and system and not the people, IRNA reported.

“It is a lie when they [the U.S. officials] say the sanctions target Iran’s system and government. They have said in the book The Art of Sanctions that we should prevent the Iranian people from meeting their main needs to cause chaos,” he said on the sidelines of rallies to mark the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Shiraz.

The vice president added by participating in the rallies the Iranians are sending the “message of resistance” to the U.S. that they will defeat the sanctions.

“The people’s participation (in the rallies) at a situation in which they are facing problems and difficulties such as unemployment shows that we have difficult times but we do not have dead end,” the vice president remarked. 

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. unilaterally from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 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.

Jahangiri said that the U.S. policy to cut Iran’s oil sale by zero has been defeated.

He noted that the Iranians can pass this difficult time through relying on domestic capacities.

“We should remember the days that we stood beside each other and repeat those days. Today, we need that unity and solidarity,” Jahangiri said in reference to the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution when people showed empathy toward each other.

NA/PA