Iran president says country not to yield to western sanctions

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the Islamic Republic will not back down due to the illegal Western-led sanctions and that the country maintains a great potential to stand atop other states in the West Asia region.

News ID: 5958

Date: 08 February 2025 - 15:21

TABNAK, Feb 08: Pezeshkian made the statement at a ceremony held on Saturday to inaugurate a number of industrial and tourism projects in the city of Sirjan, southeastern Kerman Province, on the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the US-backed Pahlavi regime.

Pezeshkian said Iran will not back down with sanctions and its enemies are mistaken to think that the country will starve to death under pressure.

The Iranian president said progress would not take place by relying on others and underlined that Iran does not lack anything to become the best country in West Asia.

“Today, we lack nothing from the countries in the region; we can be the best country in the region; we have very high capacities, provided that the views of all officials change and we are able to change the status quo,” the Iranian president said.

“The enemies think that we will die of hunger due to sanctions, but this is not the case; we are able to stand at the top with power and be the first in the region in all areas, so we all have to work hard."

Placing a premium on Iran’s capacities, Pezeshkian said, “Nowadays, we are engaged with work and struggle in the real sense; change is possible in Iran because we have an abundance of capacities and we lack nothing from the countries in the region, and we are determined to change and it is viable with the help of the people and authorities.”

US President Donald Trump signed on Tuesday a presidential memorandum that authorized stricter illegal actions against Iran for what Washington claimed was “deterring” Tehran from obtaining a “nuclear weapon.”

Washington’s adversarial stance comes despite Tehran’s repeated assurances that its nuclear activities remain in full compliance with international regulations, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s invariable verification of the peaceful nature of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Iranian foreign minister asserted that another round of deployment of the “maximum pressure” policy on the part of the United States against Iran will only lead to another defeat.

The Islamic Republic has been under hefty sanctions since Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with the world powers in 2028.