President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday that the U.S. been seeking to delegitimize the Islamic Republic system and has started its project through a “psychological warfare”.
“They started their work by a psychological war and economic war is their mid-term objective. War against efficiency of the system is their third objective and delegitimization of the system is their final objective. The regime change that they talk about is being sought through delegitimization which is being followed through psychological and economic wars,” Rouhani said in a ceremony marking the beginning of the academic year.
Rouhani called the current Trump administration the “most spiteful” one in comparison to other administrations in the U.S. since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
However, he said that the country will foil all the plots through unity.
“Disappointment does not solve problems. It is bad to deny and say that there is no problem. Problems exist, but it is not right to say that problems cannot be solved. The short term future may get worse, but the long term future will definitely get better. Why would not it get better? Why would not we pass the problems?” he said.
Elsewhere, he pointed to the U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal, saying except for a few certain countries, all said that Washington took a “wrong” decision.He noted that in the recent UN General Assembly summit in New York all the 15 members to the UN Security Council supported the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Rouhani said, “We will withdraw from the JCPOA whenever we like. There is no problem with that. Withdrawing is like destroying a wall which is easy to do. Building is difficult.”
He noted that protecting the “national interests is more important than remaining or not remaining in the JCPOA”.
Elsewhere, Rouhani pointed to reimposition of the second of round of sanctions Iran in early November, saying the people should not be worried because the U.S. has done anything it could.
“There is nothing that makes the people worried and everything is just commotion,” he said.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Rouhani said that restriction on the freedom and independence universities is “harmful”.
“We will be harmed if we restrict university’s independence and freedom. There is nothing wrong if students and universities help the (political) parties, but university should not be a place for activities of the parties, because science is open and has no boundary,” he remarked.