Oil Price Slump Not to Cripple Iran: President


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani described a sharp drop in oil prices as a plot engineered by certain countries, asserting that the Iranian nation will never succumb to such pressures.

“If some (sides) believe that they could bring the (Iranian) nation to its knees by exerting  pressure, reducing the oil price as well as masterminding and hatching different plots, they will be wrong, seriously,” President Rouhani said, addressing a group of naval forces on Wednesday.

Highlighting the futility of the sanctions imposed on Iran following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the president said the sanctions have not only failed to undermine Iran’s military power, but also caused the armed forces to rely on their own capabilities and make progress.

Over the past six months, the oil prices have fallen about 50 percent due to a glut of supplies by certain countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, Rouhani had said that the decline of crude oil price is not just an economic issue, but the result of a political plot hatched by some states.

“The decline in oil price is a plot against Muslims and people of the region and only benefits some countries,” Rouhani asserted at the time.