Iran "powerful enough to counter sanctions", says senior clericAugust 17, 2018 - 18:01 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran as a country with huge energy resources is powerful enough to counter the US's unilateral sanctions, a senior cleric said, according to IRNA. "Iran has considerable power to remove the current restrictions, if the right decisions are adopted by the officials," Tehran's Interim Friday Prayers Leader Mohammad-Hassan Aboutorabi Fard said in the second sermon of his prayers speech. He said that if Iran transforms crude oil to more useful products, it can easily circumvent the enemies' sanctions. "Iran has large capacities for building wealth by exporting commodities produced from crude oil,' the cleric added, while highlighting Iran's huge energy resources and its petrochemical factories. Contrary to certain neighboring countries which suffer currency turmoil, the Islamic Republic of Iran has only 11 billion dollars foreign debt which is not considerable for a country which is listed among 20 top world economies, he noted. US President Donald Trump has mounted pressure on Iran and on May 8 announced that Washington would withdraw from Iran's nuclear deal and re-impose nuclear-related sanctions on the country. This is while most world powers, including Russia, China, and the European Union, have repeatedly stressed that keeping the deal is in the interest of the world peace and security. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. Yerevan says did not expect CSTO in peacekeeping role Pashinyan has declared that the CSTO would be expected to come to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as an ally of Armenia Henrikh Mkhitaryan wins Serie A title with Inter Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan admits that the team have long been imagining clinching Serie A against AC Milan. |