The sanctions are undoubtedly a crime committed by the US. They are a blow delivered on the Iranian nation at the hands of the US. However, ingenious Iranians have made the most of this attack and this enmity. In other words, they have achieved certain things despite the foolish attempts made by the enemy. Our people, our youth, our officials, our scientists and our political and social activists have used the sanctions as a means to increase national self-sufficiency. As you know, the US has imposed secondary sanctions. In other words, it says to all companies and all countries that they do not have the right to give Iran such and such a product that it needs. Naturally, we will not get what we need from the outside. However, this has caused certain people inside the country to think of producing them inside the country as they saw that they cannot get them from other countries. And this has happened in numerous cases – hundreds of cases, not just one or two. Nonetheless, that measure helped us launch a movement to build them inside the country.
For example, we needed trainer jets, but they would not sell them to us. So, what did we do? We embarked on building advanced trainer jets – called “Kowthar” – inside the country. If they had sold us trainer jets, we would not have built them inside the country today. Or many of our machines and factories needed various pieces and components, but the enemy had imposed sanctions on them and he would not let us import them. At first, they said that dual-purpose components – the ones that can be used for both military and non-military purposes – were under sanctions. Later on, they extended it to other components and did not let us buy them. Nonetheless, that measure helped us launch a movement to build them inside the country.
In the present time, a component-manufacture movement has fortunately been launched with which they are building very sensitive and delicate components for various machines. If they had given them to us in the first place, no one would have thought of building them inside the country. If factory owners needed them, they would go and import them into the country. However, when they cannot import them from the outside, they refer to universities and research centers asking them to do their best and to build the components for them. Therefore, by Allah’s favor and grace, we have managed to utilize the sanctions in the service of the scientific blossoming of the country
The sanctions have not paid off. That is to say, the enemy failed to attain his goal by imposing them. What is the reason for that? The reason is the important projects that were carried out in the country during the time of sanctions. For example, several thousand knowledge-based companies were established in the country. This is a huge breakthrough. It is evident that the scientific and economic movement of the country has gained its momentum. Before the imposition of these harsh sanctions, we did not have these several thousand knowledge-based companies. Another achievement is the Persian Gulf Star Refinery which was established by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps. It is a great and magnificent feat which was accomplished during and despite sanctions. People throughout the world are impressed at this achievement.
We can also refer to the great achievements in military areas or the great feats in South Pars. In South Pars, our important gas condensate field, certain achievements have been made while we were under sanctions. We could equally cite the great projects carried out to revive Khuzestan and Ilam lands which are very important projects. I do not know how much work has been done to promote these achievements and how much people know about them. Great endeavors were made in connection with reviving the lands that needed drainage in Ilam and Khuzestan – primarily in Khuzestan and to some extent in Ilam. Many lands were revived and utilized again. All these tasks were carried out during the time of sanctions.
Other achievements include the projects undertaken by the Ministry of Energy. I have mentioned before that they are important projects which cover areas such as water and electricity. Let us not forget about the projects set up by the Ministry of Roads and finally our impressive military products which are really astonishing. They themselves have acknowledged that Iran managed to manufacture such defensive products during the sanctions.
In my opinion, one of the achievements that can be included in this list is the practice of separating the economy of the country from oil. This is a very difficult task. I used to speak about it at length for years, but it would not show any sign of progress, but in the present time, it has naturally happened. Well, they buy less of our oil or they buy very little of it. All our previous customers do not buy enough oil. This has caused the relationship between the economy of the country and oil – which was a detrimental and harmful relationship – to be undermined. This is like a practice that we can continue to do in the future as well. [Jul 31, 2020]