In a Wednesday speech that was broadcast live on state television, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the US and its allies are aiming to overthrow the regime of the Islamic Republic by means of an “economic and psychological war,” but insisted that “their wish will not come true”. The President also said that Iran would not negotiate with the US government.
The hostile tone of the speech is in line with a recent shift in Iranian foreign policy from a more open stance toward the West back to the hard-line, anti-Western attitude the regime was known for before Rouhani became president. The main reason for this can be found in the withdrawal of the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Earlier this week, the Iranian regime released a 2018 speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in which he criticized the Iran nuclear deal and warned the government not to trust the European signatories to the agreement to help Iran overcome the financial barriers resulting from US sanctions on the country that were reimposed after the Trump administration pulled out of the agreement.
Read more: Iran’s Rouhani accuses U.S. of trying to change clerical establishment
