“An opportunity has arisen now for the next US administration to make up for the past mistakes and return to the course of commitment to international obligations by respecting international principles,” Rouhani said on Sunday, addressing a meeting of the government’s Economic Coordination Headquarters.
He recalled how Iran had always stayed true to its international obligations in exchange for similar “responsible” commitments on the part of other international players.
“The Islamic Republic considers constructive interaction with the world to be its strategy,” he added.
The remarks came a day after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden surpassed the 270 electoral votes he needed to oust President Donald Trump.
During his tenure, Trump adopted a relatively unprecedented unilateral attitude towards international politics, taking the US out of many momentous agreements. His defeat was followed by many welcoming responses from world leaders in a sign of universal readiness for his departure and potential change in Washington’s increasingly high-handed behavior.
Those agreements have included the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a historic nuclear accord between Iran and other countries that the Trump administration quit in 2018. The US then returned the sanctions that the deal had lifted and began forcing other countries to commit to the bans too.
Both moves are in breach of international law as the JCPOA has been ratified as a United Nations Security Council resolution.
Also in 2018, Iran began to gradually suspend its commitments to the JCPOA in response to the US’s illegal actions and instances of contractual non-commitment by some remaining signatories. The Islamic Republic has, however, asserted that it would return to its obligations as soon as the other parties began doing the same thing.
Rouhani, meanwhile, reminded how the Iranian nation came out victorious in the face of the economic war imposed on it by the Trump administration, thus proving that the US policy of “maximum pressure” was “doomed to fail.”
The chief executive also vowed that his government would be vigorously pursuing a policy of strengthening the national currency, contributing to national production operations, and countywide economic growth by adopting proper financial policies and channeling liquidity towards production and investment.
Separately, the president hoped that the region would witness enhanced security and development thanks to cooperation and synergy among the Islamic Republic and its neighbors.