TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani predicts the fate of Donald Trump, who is on his way out from the White House, will be no better than that of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

“We’ve had two lunatics in [our] history, one was Saddam who imposed a military war on us and the other lunatic is Trump who imposed the economic war on us,” Rouhani said at a cabinet session on Wednesday.

He said Iran emerged victorious in the military war and waited for the Iraqi lunatic to be hanged. “Trump’s destiny will be no better than Saddam’s,” he emphasized.

“We saw how the Iranian people broke them with their resistance against those who wanted to break us,” the president added.

Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran after he pulled out of the JCPOA, commonly known as the Ian nuclear deal, which was signed under his predecessor Barack Obama.

With Joe Biden’s victory, however, hopes have been raised over the survival of the nuclear deal. Biden has promised to return the United States into the JCPOA if Iran returns to full compliance with the deal.

Rouhani said his administration’s efforts are aimed at reducing the effects of the economic war on the one hand and end the cruel sanctions on the other.

“We hope to break the sanctions every day,” he said. “If we break the embargo, we will defeat the Zionists as well as the reactionaries and the extremists of the U.S.”

During last Wednesday’s cabinet session, Rouhani said his administration is “not excited” about Biden’s victory, but it’s happy about Trump’s defeat.

“Some say you are excited about Biden’s coming [into power]. No, we’re no excited, but we’re very happy about Trump’s leaving,” he said, describing Trump as a person who even blocked the provision of vaccines to patients because he did not adhere to any moral and humane principles.

The remarks came two days after the U.S. Electoral College voted to confirm the final electoral result of 306 to 232 in favor of Biden. 

Speaking from Wilmington, Delaware, Biden declared that “the rule of law, our constitution and the will of the people prevailed. Our democracy – pushed, tested, threatened – proved to be resilient, true and strong.”

Rouhani said, “The next U.S. administration can decide for itself. The path is open. If it wants to choose the right path, it’s ready. If it wants to choose the wrong path, it’s also ready.”

Earlier this month, Biden reiterated in a New York Times interview that the U.S. would rejoin the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), if Iran returns to strict compliance.

Under the JCPOA, which Iran signed with six world powers in 2015, Iran agreed to scale down its nuclear program in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

Biden said a return to the agreement, which would include lifting the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, would serve as a “starting point to follow-on negotiations”.

MH/PA