TEHRAN — Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi has criticized “wrong signals” on the Iranian side toward the United States, saying the Iranian people are not weak in the face of Washington’s pressure.

“The message of the Iranian nation is not a message of weakness, but it is a message of struggle in the path of their goal … And the Iranian nation will disappoint the enemy through perseverance and resistance,” Raisi said on Monday, according to ISNA.

He said the enemy is trying to dominate the Iranian people’s minds, but the Americans’ smile will not fool the people.

The chief judge was referring to the victory of Joe Biden in the U.S. presidential election, which has been welcomed by the Iranian government due to the prospects of lifting harsh economic sanctions against Iran by the incoming administration.

Since assuming office in January 2017, outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump has pursued confrontational policies against Iran. He withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in May 2018 and imposed the “toughest ever” economic sanctions in history on Iran. 

Trump’s Iran policy has been described by observers as an abject failure.

In his latest move, the U.S. president notified Congress on Thursday that he was extending the state of national emergency with Iran that has been in place since 1979.

“Our relations with Iran have not yet normalized, and the process of implementing the agreements with Iran, dated January 19, 1981, is ongoing. For this reason, the national emergency declared on November 14, 1979, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond November 14, 2020,” Trump wrote in a letter to Congress.

Meanwhile, President-elect Biden has voiced support for the JCPOA, saying his administration will rejoin the deal. Biden served as vice president in the Barack Obama administration, under which the nuclear deal was reached.

In remarks on Wednesday, Rouhani said his administration will make use of every opportunity in order to lift the U.S. sanctions.

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

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

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 the Trump administration that sought the fall of the Iranian establishment has faced a “humiliating” defeat itself.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday that Iran’s economic problems are related to mismanagement in “Pasteur and Bahrestan” rather than the result of U.S. election in the states of Arizona, Georgia, or Michigan.

Pasteur is the seat of the president in Iran and Bahrestan is the seat of the Majlis (parliament).

“Although we are happy over [U.S. President Donald] Trump’s defeat but people’s life and livelihood should not be tied to the victory or defeat of anyone in the White House,” Ghalibaf said in remarks at the parliament.

He emphasized that in order to resolve the country’s problems, the government should focus on domestic capabilities instead of waiting for the new U.S. administration to resolve Iran’s problems. 

“Do not give the wrong address to the people,” he advised the officials.

He also said it is true that Biden is different from Trump “but we should know that in the best case he will not be different from Obama who was the architect of the so-called crippling sanction.”

MH/PA