Iranian president calls on Putin to fight back together against the U.S.
Russia and Iran can stand together against the United States in the international arena, said President of the Islamic Republic Ibrahim Raisi during his visit to Moscow.
"Amid external extraordinary conditions, when there is opposition to the unilateral actions of the West, including the United States, we can create synergy in our cooperation," Raisi told Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the talks in the Kremlin.
According to Raisi, Tehran is ready for "strategic" relations with the Russian Federation, which would not depend on short-term or short-term factors.
"We have been confronting the Americans for more than 40 years," he reminded Putin, adding that sanctions and threats have not stopped Iran's development.
“Iran is making efforts to lift sanctions, and in the end, this will be implemented,” Raisi assured.
Tehran was under tough U.S. sanctions, which were consistently tightened by the administration of Donald Trump, who accused the Islamic Republic of financing terrorism and violating the nuclear deal.
In 2019, the U.S. imposed an oil embargo on Iran, cutting off the country from a key source of export earnings that accounted for 70% of Iran’s foreign currency revenue.
This was followed by measures against Iranian banks, the Central Bank and the petrochemical industry, cutting off Iran from another 10% of currency inflow. In January 2020, a few days before the expiration of his powers, Trump imposed sanctions against Iran's metallurgical companies (another 6.5% of exports revenue).
As a result, vegetables, fruits, and nuts remained the only major category of export goods that did not fall under the U.S. restrictions.
Iran's GDP collapsed by more than half due to the sanctions- from $445.3 billion in 2017 to $191.7 billion in 2021.
Last April, the Russian ambassador to Iran said that Tehran could not repay 500 million euros loan provided by Russia for the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.