"There is doubt if the Europeans can act upon what they have stated," Larijani
said, addressing a ceremony in Tehran on Saturday morning.
He noted that the Europeans have provided a good perspective for Iran but it is
not clear if they can do their promises.
"Therefore, we should consider new mechanisms for managing the country,"
Larijani underlined.
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington would no longer
remain part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and promised to
re-impose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran.
The sanctions reinstated on Iran on May 8 included boycott of Iran's crude
supplies and bans on transfer of its crude revenues. There is a 180 days
interval before these sanctions come into effect. Other US secondary sanctions
were reinstated last month.
After Trump's declaration, the Iranian government issued a statement, calling
the US withdrawal as "unlawful". The statement underlined Iran's prerequisites
for continuing the deal with the five world powers. These conditions that were
reiterated later by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei later
mainly included Iran's guaranteed crude sales and transfer of its revenues back
home.
Two months later, the other five powers party to the nuclear deal have failed to
satisfy Iran. President Hassan Rouhani voiced his disappointment over a recent
package of incentives proposed by the European Union countries to Tehran, and
said that the Islamic Republic expected a much better, clearer and explicit
stance by the EU.
"Unfortunately, the EU’s package of proposals lacked an operational solution and
a specific method for cooperation, and featured just a set of general
commitments like the previous statements by the European Union," President
Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on
July 5.
President Rouhani pointed to US' unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal,
and said, "After the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has been dealing with
economic issues and problems in banking relations and oil, and foreign companies
that have invested in Iran are skeptical about continuing their business."
The Iranian president, however, said that the package proposed by the three
European countries (the UK, Germany, and France) on how they are going to live
up to their commitments and cooperation under the JCPOA was "disappointing”.
President Rouhani reiterated that the JCPOA was a mutual commitment, and said,
"Iran had expected a clear plan from the three European countries after the two
months’ time they have been given to come up with solid guarantees to ensure
Iran’s economic interests would continue to be met despite US pullout and
reinstatement of sanctions."
The Iranian president, however, said that Tehran would continue cooperation with
Europe if the outcome of the July 6 Vienna talks would be promising.
"If the process of the European foreign ministers’ meeting in Vienna, which is
aimed at encouraging Iran to cooperate, is promising, we will continue our
cooperation with Europe,” Rouhani added.
But the Vienna talks July 6 among foreign ministers from Iran and the five world
powers (Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain) failed to satisfy Iran with
senior officials in Tehran complaining that the Europeans had offered nothing
new to ensure Iran’s continued merits under the deal.
On July 8, the Iranian parliament's research center has readied a comprehensive
plan that includes a detailed list of policies and moves to fight off sanctions
as Washington sped up attempts to rally international support for intensified
pressures on Tehran.
The comprehensive "active anti-sanctions plan" that has been compiled at the
parliament research center after long studies and consultations with experts
from Iranian research and academic centers, traders and entrepreneurs is now
under study by senior Judiciary, Parliament and Government officials for a final
editing.
The program that mainly aims to make the country "unsanctionable" has been
developed in contrast to the US sanctions program and has reportedly been edited
seven times so far, several MPs told FNA.
Information obtained by FNA reveals the program offers a package that also
involves social and cultural measures to reinvigorate the country's economy and
infrastructure against the US sanctions that come into effect from 90 to 180
days after their re-imposition and seek to wear off Iran's economy step-by-step.
The plan also entails specific time-based nuclear, security and political
leverages that would be enforced in reprisal for enemy threats, while it also
envisages transient waivers that could be extended, halted or annulled based on
relevant decisions by authorities.
The plan to make Iran sanction-proof includes detailed measures in two 90-120
days and 180-210 days periods in various areas of monetary, banking and currency
sector, liquidity management and deterring middlemen disruption and negative
interference, optimized forex reserves management, facilitated money transfer in
the international market, reduction of intermediary currency role, strategic
commodities, budget resources and use, energy, business, trade, structures,
culture, society, media and legal affairs.
Meantime, several other plans have also been compiled by university and research
centers for improving economy through reinvigoration of national potentials to
make the country sanctions-proof.
Source: FNA