Iran IGNORES US sanctions on oil as Rouhani tells Trump his ‘psychological war’ will FAIL

He said: “We will not yield to this pressure, which is part of the psychological war launched against Iran. They have failed to stop our oil exports. We will keep exporting it. Your regional policies have failed and you blame Iran for that failure from Afghanistan to Yemen and Syria.”

The Iranian president made the bold comments during a speech that was broadcasted live on state TV.

Crowds were heard chanting “Death to America!”

Rouhani said that Washington lacked enough international support for its sanctions and had already granted temporary waivers to eight major customers of Iranian oil.

He added: “America is isolated now. Iran is supported by many countries. 

“Except for the Zionist regime (Israel) and some countries in the region, no other country backs America’s pressure on Iran.”

The European Union, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China all agreed to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, spearheaded by the US, to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran to dial down its nuclear programme. 

The treaty signatory country’s have also been trying to circumvent the US limitations.

The EU has been trying to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for non-dollar trade with Iran.

However, these limitations have not stopped foreign businesses like oil companies form leaving  Iran over fears of being penalised by the US.

Iran has made threats in the past to pull out of the deal if their economic benefits are not preserved.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi told a news conference that it remained “hopeful that the Europeans can save the deal”.

He said during a news conference that was broadcast live on state TV: “There are some ambiguities on implementation of the EU’s mechanism to protect trade with Iran from America’s sanctions.

“But we remain hopeful that the Europeans can save the deal.”

The SPV was conceived as a clearing house that could be used to help match Iranian oil and gas exports against purchases of EU goods, circumventing the U.S. sanctions, which are based on the global use of the dollar for oil trade.

The EU wanted to have the SPV set up by this month, but no country has offered to host it, six diplomats told Reuters last week.

Qasemi said: “We expect EU to implement the SPV as soon as possible.

“Iran adheres to its commitments as long as other signatories honour theirs.”