Tehran, Iran, May 22
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
The former head of Exports Commission at the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture described the recent speech by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a part of Washington’s psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic.
“The US Secretary of State’s yesterday speech was a physiological war against Iran rather than a politically motivated move,” Razi Haji-Aqamiri told Trend on May 22.
He added that Pompeo made the speech in a war of nerves with Iran by saying that Washington will increase the financial pressure on Iran by imposing the "strongest sanctions in history" on the Islamic Republic if Tehran refuses to change the course of its foreign and domestic policy.
The US is trying to undermine Iran’s economy by offering this illusion that the recent plunge in the Iranian currency's value in the free market could cripple the country’s economy, the former official said.
Haji-Aqamiri said the Iranian government and the private sector are making all-out effort to smooth the way for Tehran’s economic cooperation with its neighbors.
He further called on the government to keep a tight rein on the market of foreign currencies and facilitate the process of exports and imports.
Pompeo, a longtime Iran hawk and fierce opponent of the 2015 agreement between Tehran and world powers (also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA), earlier on Monday outlined an aggressive series of "painful" measures designed to hurt Tehran in his first key address since moving to the State Department from the CIA in April.
"Iran will never again have carte blanche to dominate the Middle East," Pompeo said Monday, outlining 12 tough conditions from Washington for any "new deal" with Tehran.
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany.
Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.