Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps commander General Qasem Soleimani on Wednesday vowed to disrupt oil exports from the Middle East if President Donald Trump cut off Iranian oil exports, Al-Hayat reported Wednesday. But a spokesman for the US Central Command said US sailors and their allies in the region “are ready to secure free navigation and free flow of trade” under international law.
Soleimani wrote Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani that he praises his “firm stance against the threats launched by American and Zionist officials, and their assertive and authoritarian statements.”
Speaking in Bern, Switzerland on Monday, Rouhani said “the Americans have claimed that they want to stop Iranian oil exports completely,” adding a dare, “If you can, do it and you will see the consequences.”
Speaking in Vienna on Tuesday, Rouhani stressed the need to save the 2015 nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers, saying the US withdrawal “is not legal.”
“Neither the United States nor any country will benefit from this decision,” Rouhani argued. “We will remain in agreement if the other signatory states, except the United States, provide guarantees for Iran’s interests. We need a balance between our duties and the imposition of restrictions, and we hope to take decisive steps in terms of trade and economy.”
Meanwhile, according to Al-Hayat, Iran’s Tehran province announced temporary measures to address the shortage of electricity and water, and called on the population to make a “serious effort to reduce energy consumption,” after adjusting the working hours in the various departments and fixing the electric current.
Then, in an attempt to curb the collapse of the rial, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Aliullah Saif, announced the launch of a secondary foreign exchange market, where participating exporters and importer will agree to turn in their foreign currency.
Currently, the US dollar sells at 8,100 rial.
