The Iranian top executive made the remarks on Wednesday while addressing a group of senior executive officials of the government.
“What we started doing from around 50 days ago will remain in history and the whole world is now wondering what Iran will do next and what its decision will be,” he said. “The whole world, except a few countries, condemned Trump and the White House authorities. No one said that Iran was afraid, but everybody praised our wisdom and astuteness."
Rouhani said one way to respond to US demands is to ‘surrender’; “no one with common sense and love for their country would ever choose to bow their head to injustice and insult; if we do that, it would practically mean the end of the great dignity of the Iranian nation,” he said.
The president said the second option is to stand against US pressure alongside internal disputes and conflicts; “if we choose to resist while paying the highest price, it will widen the gap among the people,” Rouhani said.
The Iranian president maintained that there is a third option: “we will not bend to the US’ will and safeguard our historical dignity, and instead bring the US to its knees in the battle of wills.”
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