President: Nuclear deal foiling enemy economic plots

Tehran, Dec 4, IRNA – Implementation of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, helped ward off the process launched by our enemies to paralyze our economy, says President Hassan Rouhani. Too much dependence on high oil revenues over the past decades left Iran's economy vulnerable to ups and downs in the global prices of oil, President Rouhani said on Sunday addressing Iran's parliament. 'The enemies exploited the vulnerability to financially paralyze the country by targeting Iran's oil exports,' he said. President Rouhani who was in the parliament to table the budget bill, said that the government took over the office in the face of global consensus against the Islamic Republic formed as a result of insubstantial nuclear charges. 'The country was facing an array of restrictive resolutions issued to block our import and export routes and above all to cut our banking ties,' President Rouhani said. They had managed to increase the cost of our commercial engagements with the world, he said. 'But now we are witnessing great achievements in the country's oil diplomacy,' President Rouhani said referring to the influential role Iran assumed recently in persuading OPEC members to reduce production to help boost global oil prices. 'We are not going to face any restrictions to increase the production and export of the commodity during the next months,' the Iranian President said. 'Just compare the present conditions with the situation we were in under the sanctions,' he said. 'Iran oil production was steadily declining under the sanctions and other countries could easily take over,' he said. President Rouhani said Iran's achievement in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries was a big step forward to safeguard the country's interests. 1378/IRNA