President Rouhani: World leaders wondered how Iran managed to overcome tough sanctions

Tehran, Dec 3, IRNA – President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday that Iran has been under severe sanctions and in an all-out economic war for three years, which has been much worse than the eight-year Iraqi imposed war against Iran. Rouhani made the remarks in a ceremony for inaugurating several energy projects through video-conferencing on Thursday. He said that the current war is not military and defensive; it is psychological and political. He added no one in the United States and Europe thought Iran could resist the economic war for three years, adding that several leaders of the world have asked him how Iran can manage in such tough conditions. Undoubtedly, the people have suffered a lot and tried a lot to resist the pressure to help the government, he said, adding that but in the three years of severe sanctions, electricity, water, and natural gas flow were not cut; not only Iran did not need to import gasoline and gas oil, but it also had exports as well. Iran stood on its feet and was self-sufficient in the production of wheat, he said. Naming some of the huge achievements of the government in railroads, ports, health, and medication, he said in the past year, Iran has added 11,000 hospital beds, which is unprecedented. US President Donald Trump, who is to leave the White House in a couple of weeks, unilaterally withdrew from the intentionally-accepted and UNSC-endorsed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018 and restored all the illegal sanctions on Iran to bring the country to its knees.