TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani has called on the United States to change tack and reconsider its “inhumane behaviors” toward other countries.

Speaking at a cabinet session on Tuesday, Rouhani said, “The new U.S. administration should reconsider its inhumane behaviors toward other countries in the first place in order to repair the country’s tarnished image in the international community.”

The president made the remarks at a session held to discuss the latest efforts by government bodies to expand Iran’s foreign trade and unblock the country’s assets blocked in frozen bank accounts abroad. During the session, Rouhani was briefed on efforts made by Iranian authorities to unblock the assets.

Decisions were made during the session that despite U.S. sanctions pressure, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the Foreign Ministry should work more closely and effectively to release and use these assets to meet the country’s needs.

The president’s remarks were made two days after he called on the new U.S. president-elect, Joe Biden, to compensate Iran for the past mistakes of Donald Trump.

“Now, an opportunity has opened up for the next U.S. administration to make up for the past mistakes and return to abiding by international commitments through respecting international regulations,” Rouhani said on Sunday in what appeared to be a reference to the sanctions the sitting U.S. administration imposed on Iran following Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Trump pulled the U.S. out of the nuclear deal on May 8, 2018, reimposing sweeping economic sanctions on Iran in a bid to reach what he called a better deal with Iran. However, Trump failed to make such a deal with Iran as the Iranian leadership refused to negotiate with the White House under the sanctions pressure.  

Joe Biden, Trump’s rival who is seen as the U.S. president-elect, has vowed to rejoin the JCPOA after moving into the White House.

“I will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy. If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deal's provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern,” Biden wrote in an opinion piece published by CNN in mid-September.

Rouhani pointed out that the U.S. government’s destructive policies over the last three years were not only rejected by the people of the world but were also opposed by the American people in the November 3rd election.

The president also praised the Iranian people’s resistance in the face of the U.S. economic pressure, saying the people proved with their heroic resistance in the face of the economic war that the maximum pressure policy of the United States is doomed to failure.

“Now is the time to witness a boost in the security and development of the region through cooperation and synergy among Iran and its neighbors,” he added.

SM/PA