Iran Press/Iran News: Speaking at a press conference on Monday in Tehran, Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said that the Japanese Prime Minister, Abe Shinzo, warmly welcomed Iran's peace initiative in the waters of the Persian Gulf, otherwise known as HOPE (Hormuz Peace Endeavour).
Commenting on US sanctions against Iran, Ali Rabiei said the Islamic Republic will definitely resist Washington's sanctions, and will definitely overcome them.
Asked whether Iran is committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the government spokesman said: "Our top priority is to preserve the JCPOA but this is a multilateral accord and other signatories to the agreement must also honor their commitments. If they do not, Iran will continue to pull back from its commitments under the nuclear accord."
In further remarks, Ali Rabiei said that a special group has been set up to look into the problems faced by people of the southwestern province of Khuzestan, and at least 6000 billion Toumans have been spent on revamping and modernizing water and sewage treatment in the city of Ahwaz (provincial capital of Khuzestan).
Regarding the US sanctions against Iran, the official noted: "This economic blockade can be defeated by national solidarity and promoting peace in the region and following up the diplomacy in the world."
Rabiei added: "The [US] sanctions will be broken, and this will occur when domestic production booms to make the sanctions ineffective."
According to a government spokesman, the Iranian president's visit to Japan was to create a global consensus on US unilateral sanctions because, in addition to Europe, Japan, a major US ally, is standing by Iran.
The government spokesman also referred to the government's meeting last night, saying, "Last night the government discussed a number of important issues; pollution of megacities, especially Tehran, and the problems of people in Khuzestan province."
"There was also a report by the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare on border areas, border dwellers, border exchanges and decisions were made to improve their livelihoods," he added.
Rabiei also congratulated Christians, both in Iran and all over the world on the occasion of Christmas and the New Year and he also congratulated Jewish Iranians on the advent of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
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