TEHRAN — Yahya Al-e Es'hagh, the former trade minister who was also chairman of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce, has enumerated ten ways to counter the United States’ unilateral sanctions on Iran.

In an interview with Tasnim published on Saturday, Al-e Es'hagh said independence; multiplicity of resources to meet the needs; increasing resilience; active confrontation against sanctions; supporting production; taking risks; countering corruption; coordination among government branches; using the region’s economic and commercial capacities; and finally resistance economy are ten ways to counter the sanctions.

He said the government should manage the economy in a way that the country can rely on domestic production to meet its needs.

“To counter the U.S. sanctions, we should use resources that the U.S. cannot control or exert influence to restrict Iran’s access to them,” added Al-e Es'hagh who was trade minister in the Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani administration.

He also said when the U.S. threatens Iran, “we should also threaten the U.S. in response.”

U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally quit the nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions in history on Iran as part of his administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran.

The Trump administration has also stepped up calls for the extension of UN arms embargo on Iran. The administration has threatened that it may seek to trigger a snapback of UN sanctions on Iran if its attempts to extend the arms embargo fail.

Under the JCPOA backed by Resolution 2231, the UN must lift its arms embargo on Iran five years after the implementation of the nuclear deal. Despite its withdrawal from the JCPOA, the U.S. is pushing for the extension of the arms embargo, which is scheduled to expire on October 18.

MH/PA