Rouhani: US seeking regime change in Iran

The United States is seeking a regime change in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has said in a speech broadcast on state TV. The US is using “psychological and economic warfare” and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic to “pursue regime change” in Iran, Rouhani said on Sunday while commemorating the beginning of the academic […]

The United States is seeking a regime change in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani has said in a speech broadcast on state TV.

The US is using “psychological and economic warfare” and questioning the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic to “pursue regime change” in Iran, Rouhani said on Sunday while commemorating the beginning of the academic year at Tehran University.

“Reducing the legitimacy of the system is their final goal. When they say getting rid of, regime change in their own words, how does regime change happen? Through reducing legitimacy, otherwise, a regime doesn’t change,” Rouhani said.

Tensions have ramped up between Iran and the US after President Donald Trump withdrew from a multilateral agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme in May and reimposed sanctions in August.

Under the deal signed in Vienna with six world powers – the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union – Iran scaled back its uranium enrichment programme and promised not to pursue nuclear weapons.