Speaking on Wednesday at the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Rouhani said that even if Iran buys a weapon, it will be for defense purposes, and it will not be like gasoline on fire, but water on fire, by which we will put out flames and not allow tension to arise.

“One of the effects of these efforts was the lifting of the arms embargo, because you know we have two periods in the JCPOA agreement, a five-year period in which the arms embargo is lifted and an 8- and 10-year period in which almost all restrictions are lifted,” Rouhani said and added: “We are approaching the first period, which is lifting the arms embargo. What did the Americans do? On May 8, 2018, under pressure from the extremists in the United States, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, and the stubbornness that Trump had with the previous president, the United States did a very stupid thing and withdrew from this unilateral agreement.”

Rouhani went on to say: “Trump's disturbing dream did not come true because of our wisdom; on Tuesday, May 8, 2018, when Trump's speech ended, I immediately appeared in front of the camera and gave a short speech in which I condemned the United States’ action and referred to it being against international law. I said that we would stay in the agreement with P4+1 instead of P5+1, and that we would give it a few weeks to see if they can serve our interests.”

“Today, we are at a point where the United States feels that in the coming months, we will achieve a great victory under the same UN Security Council Resolution 2231, and that Iran's arms embargo will be lifted entirely. This arms embargo, which they have been building against us for years, will be completely lifted, and Iran will be able to buy the weapons it needs and will be able to export weapons.”

Emphasizing that that both the United States and some other countries know that Iran will not in any way accept the violation of Resolution 2231 and it is Iran’s undisputed right to exit the arms embargo soon within the framework of the resolution, Rouhani concluded as follows: “Of course, whether we build weapons or buy them is for defending ourselves and nations. Our weapon is not gasoline on fire. The weapon we have is water on fire. We extinguish flames with it and do not allow flames of war or tension to arise. So, both the United States and other countries that think that their conspiracies can be effective know that this path is closed on them forever. Of course, the wise way is for the United States to repent, return to JCPOA, and apologies to the Iranian nation, pay compensation, and act. This is the best way to do it, but of course this group that is in power today will not come to such a conclusion. So, let’s wait and see what will happen in the future.”

ILKHA