Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the Islamic Republic’s distrust of the United States is based on facts.
Stressing that Washington needs to first rebuild the missing trust, Salehi said Iran does not trust the US, and the Americans do not trust Iran, either.
“Our distrust, of course, is based on realities, and shows our rightfulness, while their distrust of us is based on the proverb that says ‘every madman thinks all other men mad,’” he said, speaking in an interview with Khamenei.ir, the official website of Leader of Islamic Revolution Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei.
The interview has been subsumed on Monday, as part of the website’s “Definitive Statements” that cover Iranian officials’ observations on the Leader’s recent comments about the United States’ obligations towards the Islamic Republic.
Salehi also referred to talks of US return to the nuclear deal and removal of sanctions, saying the most important sanctions that must be removed are those on Iran’s oil sales and banking transactions.
“We would have no more problem doing our job if our banking transactions are processed and our oil is sold flawlessly,” he said, as quoted by Tasnim news agency.
The Iranian official noted that the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump administration against Tehran stopped the country’s exports, and imposed huge damages on Iran.
“We used to export 2.5 million barrels of oil before Trump’s withdrawal [from the 2015 nuclear deal], but that plunged to under one million after his pulling out of the JCPOA. They prevent our oil sales, and then gradually stopped the export of our other resources, including petchem products,” Salehi said.
Source: Iranian media
