Iran's president on Monday described U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran as an economic war being waged on his country and stressed that "economic war is more difficult than military war."
Hassan Rouhani spoke as he inaugurated the third and final phase of the sprawling Persian Gulf Star refinery built in the Persian Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas. Construction of the refinery began in 2006 and it now has the capacity of 400,000 barrels a day, which amounts to about 20% of Iran's 2.1 million barrels of daily refining capacity.
Rouhani praised the inauguration, saying in a televised speech that it comes despite America's "imposing the harshest sanctions" on Iran.
The Trump administration last year pulled the U.S out of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanction on Iran, targeting its vital oil sector.
"We have inaugurated huge national projects in this situation," Rouhani said at the inauguration, adding that this comes despite efforts by the U.S., Israel and their allies to increase pressures on Iran.
Also Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned his country's government not to be deceived by European countries that say they want to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal.
Washington's major European allies have said they want to save the agreement under which world powers agreed to lift sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear program.
The Europeans have promised to guarantee that Iran benefits from abiding by the deal, even though Trump reimposed sanctions. In practice, European companies largely abandoned plans to reinvest in Iran after Trump's decision.
"America's enmity towards Iran is obvious," Khamenei said, according to state TV. "Europeans also practice deception today. … The enemy sometimes shows his teeth, sometimes his fists, and sometimes his smile. All these tactics are the same. Even their smile is out of animosity."
A new EU mechanism has been put in place to facilitate trade with Iran without using U.S. dollars, drawing a sharp rebuke from Washington. In practice, EU diplomats say it is likely to be used only for trade permitted by Washington anyway, such as for food or humanitarian supplies.
Iran has called on the EU to do more to demonstrate its commitment to the deal.
"I am not telling the officials what to do but I am advising them to exercise caution (in dealing with Europe) so that they will not be tricked by them and cause problems for the country," Khamenei said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry dismissed U.S. reports of a former U.S. Air Force counterintelligence specialist who defected to Iran despite warnings from the FBI. Monica Elfriede Witt, 39, has been charged with revealing classified information to the Tehran government, including the code name and secret mission of a Pentagon program.
"I think it is not true, and that it is media propaganda aimed at Iran," said Bahram Qassemi, the spokesman, without going into specifics.
