We can sell our oil as much as we want , Khamenei

TEHRAN Iranian leaders on Wednesday unanimously dismissed the recent U.S. move to further pressure on Iran over oil sales.The U.S. on Monday ended six months of waivers for Iran’s oil buyers and demanded them to stop purchases by May.Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Washington mounts pressures to harm Iran’s economy, but they won’t be able to bring the Iranians to its knees, according to the leader’s official website.

“Their attempts (to pressure Iran) will lead nowhere. We can sell our oil as much as we want and in the quantity that we need,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.The U.S. supposes that they have blocked the ways for Iran’s oil exports, but the Iranian nation and the officials will break the deadlocks, he said.”Besides, the Americans should know that their enmity will not be left unanswered. The Iranian nation will not remain idle in the face of hostility,” he added.

Given Iran’s excessive reliance on oil revenues in economy, the Iranian leader urged the officials to reduce the reliance on oil sales.Khamenei acknowledged that the U.S. sanctions have caused problems for the country.

But he said that the sanctions would benefit Iran if they are considered as an opportunity and officials turn to rely on domestic resources and capabilities as well as the boost of production inside the country.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ruled out the possibility of talks with the U.S. under sanction pressures, official IRNA news agency reported.

“Negotiations are possible only when the U.S. removes all the pressures, apologizes for its illegal measures and is committed to mutual respect,” Rouhani said in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.Rouhani added that Washington’s claims of seeking negotiations with Iran are “mere lies” and that the U.S., in fact, intends to force the Iran to its knees, according to Press TV.

Washington has failed in its anti-Iran measures regionally and internationally, he said. They will be frustrated in their anti-Iran economic drive.Rouhani vowed to resist the U.S. sanction pressures. “There is no way but to resist the aggressors.”He also warned that the oil market will be “unpredictable and uncontrollable” if the Americans continue to put bans on Iran’s oil sales.

Moreover, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday warned the U.S. of what he called the “consequences” of stopping Iran from selling oil and using the strategic Strait of Hormuz.”We believe that Iran will continue to sell its oil. We will continue to find buyers for our oil and use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of our oil,” Zarif told an event at the Asia Society in New York.

“If the U.S. takes the crazy measure of trying to prevent us from doing that, then it should be prepared for the consequences,” he said.He also criticized the U.S. for violating the international deals. “The U.S. is not acting like a normal state,” Zarif added.