Return of US Sanctions Real Chance for Economic Modernization: Iran

Pointing to Iran’s progress in the defence sector that has created effective deterrence against foreign powers, Larijani said Iran managed to produce powerful weapons after foreign countries refused to provide Iran with military equipment during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.

“The same can happen in the economic sector and we can make a great leap,” Tasnim News Agency quoted him as saying.

The top lawmaker said Iran has in the past missed big opportunities for boosting domestic production as it used to spend petrodollars on importing goods.

But now, he added, the country should seize the chance and focus on improving its economy, modifying structures and facilitating investments in the country.

“This period can lead to internal modernization of the country’s economy,” he said.

The US president pulled his country out of the 2015 nuclear deal early May, threatening to impose the “highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic that would ultimately destroy its economy.

US President Donald Trump re-imposed anti-Iran sanctions on the country’s automotive and metal sectors, gold trade, aviation industry and other fields on Monday.

The US is also working to push the world to cut trade with Iran and stop purchasing the country’s oil before November, when further sanctions on oil and transactions with the central bank of Iran will be restored.