Hatami from Moscow: Iran to Fight US Economic Terror with Defensive Might

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said the country reserves the right to fight America's "economic terrorism" with its defensive military might, after Washington announced that it won't renew sanctions waivers for oil purchases from the Islamic Republic.

"In order to safeguard the prosperity of our nation and counter America's economic terrorism, we reserve our right to use defensive measures," Hatami told the Conference on International Security in Moscow on Wednesday.

"We believe that the West's inaction against the US is encouraging the audacity of the White House leaders."

Relatively, Trump’s US administration said it seeks to stop Iranian oil sales by imposing sanctions on countries that continue purchasing Iranian crude after May 1.

In May 2018, Trump quit the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran that guaranteed the Islamic Republic’s oil sales and the lifting of US sanctions on the country in return for a number of voluntary limitations on parts of its peaceful nuclear energy program.

Previously, the US had issued waivers to its sanctions for eight major buyers of Iranian crude.

Hatami said he did not think that Washington's "inhumane intentions" in targeting the interests and the prosperity of the Iranian nation would bear fruit.

"I hereby declare as the defense minister of Iran that we will never back down for even a moment from protecting Iran's security and sovereignty despite the hot air that comes from the American regime and some European governments that cannot stand Iran's ability to defend itself, and we will continue on our righteous path to boost our defensive prowess based on a doctrine of deterrence," he asserted.