“We cannot succeed in the economic war through negotiation and having an optimistic view about the enemy,” Mohammadreza Pourebrahimi, a member of Parliament’s economic commission, told Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.
“We should enter the economic war with economic tools,” said the MP.
He regretted that Foreign Minister Zarif has put all his efforts into solving the issue of JCPOA with Europeans, adding, “This is while today all have understood that Europeans are not honoring their commitments; Europeans are worse than Americans and Americans are worse than Europeans.”
He urged the Foreign Ministry to enter the economic battlefield, noting that the ministry can help boost Iran’s trade to a great extent.
“Right now 90% of Iran’s trade is done with 10 countries which simply means that Foreign Minister should target these 10 countries,” he said, adding, “Foreign Minister should dispatch 10 experienced and strong ambassadors to these states; strong ambassadors who are able to plan for the country’s economic affairs including oil and non-oil trades, exports and imports.”
The remarks come as US has unilaterally imposed sanctions against Iran after withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) in May 2018. Tehran has termed the sanctions as a form of ‘economic terrorism’, calling on other signatories of the deal and the international community to stop US hostile policies.
Washington aims to reach a ‘better’ deal with Tehran through its ‘maximum pressure policy’ but Iranian officials have stressed that there will be no negotiation with a country that has failed to honor its words. Tehran says the window of diplomacy is not closed and that Washington can continue its negotiation in the 5+1 format if it returns to JCPOA and fulfill its commitments by removing sanctions.
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