The head of Iran’s state broadcaster has put out a novel interpretation of expanding US sanctions after American withdrawal from the July 2015 nuclear deal, claiming that they are a maneuver to avoid American collapse.
IRIB chief Ali Askari (pictured) said in a Sunday statement: “The United States has been overwhelmed by the illusion that by imposing successive sanctions and mounting pressure on the Iranian people, it can find a way to slow down its collapse, ignoring the fact that this process only boosts unity and solidarity of the great Iranian nation.”
Askari is among the latest set of Iranian individuals and entities to be sanctioned after the May 9 withdrawal announced by Donald Trump. Last Wednesday’s group was cited for support of “human rights abuses” and “censorship”.
Even before the withdrawal, American sanctions — maintained despite the deal between Iran and the 5+1 Powers (US, UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia) — were limiting trade and investment in Tehran’s fragile economy. The US Government is now demanding that any foreign company with American links end its business with Iran by November. The Rouhani Government is demanding that European powers stand up to Washington and expand vital investment in sectors such as energy and finance.
So far, the Iranian effort has yielded limited results. French energy giant Total, France’s Airbus, the shipping firm Maersk, Germany insurance company Allianz, and America’s General Electric are among the companies which have announced suspension of business.
But Askari insisted that all the economic problems are on the American side:
At the present time and in future, the US Treasury Department will be a place where countless creditors from across the world will be claiming their $21,000 billion debt from the United States as the most indebted government in the world, though the creditors and those who have lost their money will soon have to mourn on the corpse of this giant monster.
He proclaimed that the new US sanctions will “make the resistance front in the region more resolute and determined to thwart conspiracies and speed up annihilation of the Zionist regime and also to punish the US allies as traitors to the Islamic world and, if need be, will lead to the resumption of Iran’s nuclear program”.
Speaking of his personal situation, Askari asserted, “Imposing sanctions against the head of the IRIB is a sign that America is extremely angry that the monopoly of the media front of the Arrogance has been shattered and it has been discredited time and again before the public opinion in Iran and the world.”
