US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday tweet wrote: “As I said to the people of Iran almost a year and a half ago: The United States is with you.”
Pompeo has issued a message while the US President Donald Trump has taken numerous actions against the Iranian people since 2016.
The Trump’s administration unilaterally and illegally withdrew from JCPOA in May 2018, re-imposing all sanctions lifted by the nuclear deal against Iran.
The US has also made every effort to make pressure on Iran, which has made it difficult to sell and distribute humanitarian drugs and goods to Iran.
Pompeo’s Twitter message was released following protests in a number of Iranian cities due to rising fuel prices.
The National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company (NIOPDC) said in a statement late Thursday that the price of a liter of regular gasoline had gone up to 15,000 rials (12.7 US cents) from 10,000 rials and the monthly ration for each private automobile was set at 60 liters per month. Additional purchases would cost 30,000 rials per liter.
The surprise move came hardly a day after Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Thursday that fuel prices would not change in the near future.
Right after the price hike, President Hassan Rouhani said the government has no intention to receive any portion of the hike despite the economic woes in the country. He added that the government's move to increase the gasoline prices would be beneficial to the Iranian people, particularly those who are going through economic hardships.
However, many believe that while the rise in fuel prices can generate more revenue for the government to buy basic goods, medicine and pay civil servants, workers, and pensioners, it will definitely put low-income groups under added pressure.
MNA/FNA13980826000009
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