Rouhani says Iran is hoping for Joe Biden

Ali Ragab

Iran is hoping that Democrat Joe Biden is elected as president of the United States so as to get out of the dark economic tunnel set up by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

On Saturday, November 7, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani expressed his hope that “the next American administration will respect international laws and decisions and realize that the path of sanctions was incorrect.”

Rouhani said during a cabinet meeting, “We hope that the next administration will realize that sanctions will not achieve its goals,” adding that “the next American administration must learn from the past three years, surrender to international laws and decisions, return to implementing its obligations under the nuclear agreement, and the Iranian people will see the fruits of patience and steadfastness,” according to the Iranian news agency IRNA.

Iran’s economy has witnessed a significant decline due to the US sanctions against regime of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Tehran’s support for sectarian militias and terrorist groups in the region.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has expected serious impacts on Iran’s society and regime following the sharp decline in foreign exchange reserves.

In a recent report, the NCRI noted that Iran’s hard currency reserves have declined to a historically unprecedented level, explaining that Iran’s total official reserves will drop to $8.8 billion by 2020.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had said in a previous report that in order for the Iranian regime to balance the budget for next year, it must sell oil at $195 per barrel.

The erosion of reserves also comes at a time when the food market in Iran has been in chaos for several months due to the shortage and high prices of basic commodities.

Millions of families in Iran face major problems in providing the minimum amount of daily food due to the deterioration of local economic indicators, to the point of changing many eating habits. The scarcity of edible oils has become a major headline in local Iranian media recently after long queues extended in front of stores hoping to buy essential products.

The Iranian newspaper Eghtesad Saramad stated in a report that the Iranian economy was suffocating, calling for “abandoning the supremacist rhetoric and confronting the world.”

The newspaper wrote that “the Iranian economy is in isolation due to two factors: the government’s failed economic policies and the sanctions.”

“This led to the closure of all entry points for the dollar into the country due to the restriction of bank and monetary exchange with Iran and the financial embargo,” it added.

US Special Envoy for Iran Elliott Abrams revealed that Tehran has only $10 billion in cash left after most of its foreign accounts were frozen by sanctions.

Abrams said that Tehran’s severe financial distress prompted it to reduce its expenditures on its militias in the region, explaining that Tehran had to pump $1 billion to absorb the scarcity of hard currency.

In the same context, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed that the new sanctions on the Iranian oil sector come within the framework of the maximum pressure policy on Iran adopted by the US administration.

He confirmed on Twitter that Washington will not hesitate to pursue any entity or individual that helps the Iranian regime evade sanctions.