Rouhani Orders Boosting Non-Oil Exports to Face US Sanctions

 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech in Tehran, June 3, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/ATTA KENARE)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech in Tehran, June 3, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/ATTA KENARE)
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Rouhani Orders Boosting Non-Oil Exports to Face US Sanctions

 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech in Tehran, June 3, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/ATTA KENARE)
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech in Tehran, June 3, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/ATTA KENARE)

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Sunday for promoting trade with neighboring countries and boosting non-oil exports to face the impact of the US sanctions.

This came as the Iranian rial fell to a new low only three days after new US sanctions were announced against 18 Iranian banks.

Addressing the government’s Economic Coordination Committee session on Sunday, Rouhani said his government seeks to increase and develop non-oil exports in light of the most severe embargo imposed on the country.

“It is the duty of the competent authorities to remove administrative barriers in commercial relations with neighboring countries and make this matter a priority for their programs so that administrative red tape is addressed,” stressed Rouhani.

He also urged the Ministry of Economy and Finance to expedite the filling of the technical and administrative needs and deficiencies in the border customs departments and to establish a rapid mechanism for issuing approvals for entry and exit of goods.

Meanwhile, head of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Kamal Kharrazi said on Sunday that the new US sanctions against 18 Iranian banking institutions aim to bring the Iranian nation to their knees.

Speaking to IRNA, Kharrazi said the objective behind all the US pressures was to bring the Islamic Republic to collapse, but fortunately, with the resistance of the people, the White House did not achieve its sinister goal.

For its part, Kayhan newspaper, which is known as the voice of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, accused on Sunday Rouhani’s government of greatly damaging the country by “ignoring” the warnings presented to him five years ago, about the presence of gaps in the Nuclear Deal.



Florida Man Shot Israeli Visitors Thinking They Were Palestinians, Police Say

 Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
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Florida Man Shot Israeli Visitors Thinking They Were Palestinians, Police Say

 Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)
Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage by Hamas in Gaza mark 500 days of their captivity by spreading a massive Israeli flag depicting an hourglass in the Mediterranean Sea, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. Hebrew of the flag reads "Without the abductees, Israel runs out". (AP)

A Florida man was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder after shooting at a vehicle with two men who he thought were Palestinians but turned out to be Israeli visitors, local authorities and media reports said.

The website of Miami-Dade County Corrections says the suspect, 27-year-old Mordechai Brafman, was charged with two counts of attempted murder and booked on Sunday for the shooting on Saturday.

A police official confirmed earlier reports from local media that Brafman said in an interview with police that while he was driving his truck in Miami Beach, he saw two people he thought were Palestinian. He stopped, shot at and killed them.

However, the victims survived. One was shot in the shoulder and the other had a wounded forearm. They turned out to be Israeli visitors and not Palestinians, police said.

A representative or lawyer for Brafman could not be immediately identified by Reuters.

Human rights advocates say there has been a rise in anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian and antisemitic hate in the United States since the start of US ally Israel's war in Gaza following an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian group Hamas.