Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday declared "victory" over the United States after the UN Security Council rejected the Trump administration's bid to reimpose UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
"The Iranian nation has achieved great political, legal and diplomatic success at the United Nations," Rouhani told a televised weekly meeting of his cabinet, as quoted by AFP.
"The reason for this victory lies solely in the support and resistance of the people," he added.
"America's greatness has collapsed (just like) the global hegemony they thought they had," claimed the Iranian President.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced an executive order and new sanctions against Iran aimed at enforcing United Nations sanctions.
The sanctions put in place a new arms embargo on Iran to replace a UN ban set to expire in October. Administration officials say it is an indefinite ban on weapons sales and allows for sanctions on any international companies or individuals that seek to violate the embargo.
Last month, Washington started the process of restoring all pre-2015 UN sanctions against Iran. The move to activate the “snapback” came after the UN Security Council rejected the US resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran, which is due to expire in October.
However, the president of the UN Security Council rejected the US demand, saying there was no general agreement among council members.
Rouhani said on Tuesday that the next US leader must accept Tehran's demands.
"We are not a bargaining chip in US elections and domestic policy," Rouhani said in a virtual address to the UN General Assembly.
"Any US administration after the upcoming elections will have no choice but to surrender to the resilience of the Iranian nation," he stated.
