US trying to delay its collapse through sanctions: IRIB head

Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) has slammed Washington’s new sanctions on some Iranian persons and entities, saying the United States seeks to delay its definitive collapse through imposing sanctions on other countries.

“The United States has been overwhelmed by the illusion that by imposing successive sanctions and mounting pressure on the Iranian people, it can find a way to slow down its collapse, ignoring the fact that this process only boosts unity and solidarity of the great Iranian nation,” Ali Askari said in a statement released on Sunday.

The US Treasury Department announced on Wednesday that Washington had imposed sanctions on several Iranian individuals and organizations, including the IRIB chief, over “human rights abuses” and “censorship.”

The Treasury Department said the listed persons and entities would be blocked from the US financial system.

Elsewhere in his statement, Askari said the US Treasury Department was under the impression that by imposing sanctions it can prevent the collapse of the US government, but it must rather find a way to pay the United States increasing debt to the world.

“At the present time and in future, the US Treasury Department will be a place where countless creditors from across the world will be claiming their $21,000 billion debt from the United States as the most indebted government in the world, though the creditors and those who have lost their money [through US government’s debt] will soon have to mourn on the corpse of this giant monster,” the IRIB head said.

For the first time in history, the national debt of the United States surpassed the figure of 21,000 billion dollars, according to the latest data released by the US Treasury Department. In September last year, the debt reached $20 billion, while on January 20, the same year, when Donald Trump assumed the presidency, it was about $19,900 billion.

The IRIB chief further noted that Washington’s unjust sanctions against Iran would create new historical opportunities for the country, adding, “The result of this process will be encouraging Iran to take advantage of all its national power tools to punish America.”

He added that new US sanctions will also “make the resistance front in the region more resolute and determined to thwart conspiracies and speed up annihilation of the Zionist regime (of Israel) and also to punish the US allies as traitors to the Islamic world and, if need be, will lead to the resumption of Iran’s nuclear program.”

Askari described sanctions against the IRIB head as a sign of US anger who sees its media monopoly shattered, noting, “Imposing sanctions against the head of the IRIB is a sign that America is extremely angry that the monopoly of the media front of the [global] Arrogance has been shattered and it has been discredited time and again before the public opinion in Iran and the world.”

Askari stated that the IRIB was proud that despite all pressures, it had never backed down on fulfilling its main mission, which was to represent the voice of the Iranian nation and the emancipating call of the Islamic Revolution.

He emphasized that following recent sanctions, the IRIB will double its determination more than ever before.

Askari concluded by saying that national solidarity of Iranians combined with wise leadership of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and suitable plans made by officials will render US sanctions ineffective, adding that the Iranian economy will soon enter a new phase in which enemy’s sanctions would not be able to affect it.