“We hold no hope that diplomacy can produce a solution to the JCPOA [problem],” said Brigadier General Hossein Salami, the lieutenant commander of IRGC, referring to an announcement by US President Donald Trump Tuesday that the country will walk out of the pact.
The Iranian government has announced it will wait a few weeks before deciding its JCPOA approach, in the hope that Europe could compensate for the US withdrawal.
Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Tehran will walk on the US footsteps and get out of the deal unless European powers give firm guarantees they will continue to adhere to their JCPOA commitments.
“Europe cannot get out of the political orbit of the US,” Salami said, suggesting the three European powers would not satisfy Iran’s demand.
Salami echoed the Leader’s stance that the US pull-out proved its allegations that Iran seeks nukes were empty and just a pretext to place pressure on Iran, saying the main goal of the enemies is to force Iran into surrender, according to Fars News Agency.
The IRGC commander said the hostile powers will by no means choose military option to confront Iran, and instead they will work to target Iran’s economic power.
“We are in the middle of an economic war … we should fight in this battle the way we fought in the 1980s Iran-Iraq war,” he said.
Iran in recent years has been struggling with an underperforming economy hit hard by years of international sanctions and mismanagement.
The Leader has frequently advocated Resistance Economy as the solution to Iran’s economic woes.
Resistance Economy is a set of principles aimed at making the economy immune to economic wars waged by foreign powers, through improving productivity and curbing the economy’s dependence on oil export revenues, among other measures.
It was first proposed by the Leader in 2011, amid the tightening of economic sanctions against Tehran by the US and its allies over unproven allegations that Tehran intends to build nuclear weapons.
