BICOM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has threatened to disrupt oil shipments from neighbouring Gulf countries if the US tries to prevent countries buying Iranian oil.

In May, the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal under which sanctions on the Islamic Republic were lifted in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. The US has since told countries they must stop buying Iranian oil after 4 November or face sanctions.

Speaking at a news conference in Switzerland on Tuesday, Rouhani said: “The Americans have claimed they want to completely stop Iran’s oil exports. They don’t understand the meaning of this statement, because it has no meaning for Iranian oil not to be exported, while the region’s oil is exported.”

Iranian officials have in the past threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, in retaliation for any hostile US action against Iran. Major-General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Al-Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said Rouhani’s words were “a source of pride”.

Rouhani will meet with the foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia in Vienna on Friday to discuss the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Iran nuclear deal.

More than 50 international firms have said they will leave the Iranian market, Brian Hook, a State Department policy and planning director, said on Monday at a news conference in Washington.

Speaking about the reintroduction of US sanctions yesterday in Vienna, Rouhani said: “Iran will survive this round of US sanctions as it has survived before. This US government will not stay in office forever… But history will judge other nations based on what they do today. Even in the worst case, I promise that the basic needs of Iranians will be provided.”

He added: “We have enough sugar, wheat, and cooking oil. We have enough foreign currency to inject into the market.”