President Hassan Rouhani has reaffirmed that the United States will not be able to stop Iran’s oil sales, warning that no crude will find its way out of the Persian Gulf should Washington attempt to target Iranian crude exports.

AVA- “The US should know [this] that we are selling and will continue to sell our oil and it will not be able to block Iran’s oil exports. And it should also know that if it attempts to stop Iran’s oil [sales] someday, no oil will be exported from the Persian Gulf,” he said during a speech on Tuesday in the city of Shahroud, Semnan Province.
Rouhani further noted that Washington had failed in its declared aims of stopping Iran's crude exports, choking its trade with the world, and isolating the country regionally and internationally.
“Our great nation proved to be the ultimate victor of this battle on all stages,” the president said.
Washington has re-imposed its unilateral anti-Iran sanctions, including an oil embargo, after withdrawing from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers in May in defiance of international objections.
The US had initially vowed to reduce Iran’s oil sales to “zero” under the bans, but it later backed down and granted waivers to almost all of Tehran’s major crude buyers.
“The US should know that our people will preserve their cultural, economic, and political relations with the countries of the region and the world,” he added.
“We will expand our relationship with neighbors, Muslim countries, and the world,” Rouhani said. The Islamic Republic, he added, is not adversarial towards any of its neighbors.
The president further underscored the Iranian nation’s “great victories” of the past 40 years in the fight against “the oppressive and tyrannical enemy,” referring to the US.
He further pointed out a number of defeats the US has suffered in its hostile plots, including staging a coup, undermining the economy through sanctions and breaking away the southern province of Khuzestan from the country.
‘US, Israel detest powerful Iran’
The US and Israel cannot tolerate the existence of a powerful Iran, he said, adding that the Iranian nation would never bow down to them.
Rouhani said the US animosity towards Iran has drawn no backing except from the Tel Aviv regime and a few small states, adding that Washington has even failed to win support for such a policy at the United Nations and the International Court of Justice.
“Our nation will not allow a smile to appear on the face of the enemy,” he stated. “We will build an Iran, which is more powerful than ever before.”