Iranian Cleric: All Sanctions Without Exception Must Be Terminated

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian cleric reminded the United States that it must terminate the whole sanctions against the Islamic Republic for good, dismissing any temporary or partial suspension of the sanctions.

 Addressing worshippers at the Friday prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has already defined the criterion for the fruitfulness of the nuclear negotiations.

“All of the sanctions, not only the nuclear and human rights sanctions, but the whole sanctions must be terminated. They must not be suspended or lifted temporarily, but must be terminated permanently,” the cleric emphasized.

He also slammed the US as a plunderer that is not after genuine negotiations, saying Washington still has dreams of plundering Iran like what they had been doing before the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

Lashing out at the US for resorting to every possible conspiracy against the Islamic Republic in the past 43 years, the cleric said the failure of Americans to hurt Iran forced them to mount the pressure of sanctions.

In comments on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made it clear for the parties involved in the negotiations on the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that the termination of sanctions against Iran will pave the way for the achievement of any kind of agreement.

In remarks in November 2020, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on the Iranian officials to concentrate efforts on thwarting and overcoming the sanctions instead of seeking their removal, pointing to the unsuccessful outcome of years of negotiations for lifting the sanctions.