'Thank God Trump is gone,' says Iran's Rouhani

'Thank God Trump is gone,' says Iran's Rouhani
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani thanked God that Donald Trump is leaving office.
2 min read
25 November, 2020
Hassan Rouhani is Iran's President [Getty]
Iranian President Hassan Rouhiani expressed joy at US President Donald Trump's election loss, saying "thank God that the Americans and the world got rid of Trump".

Rouhani, a long-time critic of the Trump administration, said that President-elect Joe Biden's election victory is also a win for Tehran.

"One of the manifestations of Iran's victory and the enemy's definite defeat in the economic war is the end of the era of Trumpism," Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday morning, according to official Fars news agency.

"He didn't even allow a $5 billion in international aid to reach Iran to fight the coronavirus," he added.

Rouhani thanked the Iranian people for their "resistance" as they lived through three-years of Trump-imposed sanctions.

"I thank the Iranian people for their three-year resistance in the economic war. In Iran we've had two sacred defences, one against Iraq and the other against the Trumpists," he said.

Earlier this month, Rouhani expressed hope that the US might take a softer approach towards Iran under a Biden administration.

He said if Biden revokes Trump's sanctions, then Iran and other sides of the nuclear agreement can go back to a pre-Trump administration.

Read also: Netanyahu urges US to avoid returning to Iran nuclear deal

"Whenever we see that there's a situation for the lifting of sanctions, we will make use of that," Rouhani said at a cabinet meeting on 11 November. "Our goal is that cruel sanctions would be lifted."

Rouhani's remarks come as the Trump administration is attempting to ramp up pressure on Iran before Biden takes office in January.

Biden has said he wants to return to rapprochement with Iran.

Analysts say Biden is expected to be more willing to engage with the Iranians in order to avoid major escalation.

Trump is viewed favourably by Gulf heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the UAE for pulling the US out of the nuclear deal and starving Iran of vital oil revenues via a tough sanctions regime.

During his election campaign, Biden promised to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama.

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