News - Middle East: Iran's President Ebrahim Raeisi says his administration will not tie the country’s progress to the removal of sanctions, reiterating that neutralization of the impact of sanctions is being resolutely pursued, separate from efforts to remove them through talks in Vienna.

Addressing an event on Wednesday to commemorate 4,000 martyred clerics, Raeisi said the martyrs’ blood carries the message of resistance against the enemies, protecting Islamic values, building the country, resolving people’s problems, forging unity, national cohesion, and adhering to the guidelines set by the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

“Just as we do not deem the enemy’s threats a hindrance, we do not [intend to] put off the country’s progress until the removal of sanctions,” he said.

“We have shown this in practice and announced through official tribunes that our strategy is that of the Leader, but at the same time we are pursuing the removal of sanctions as well.”

Raeisi was referring to negotiations in the Austrian capital to persuade Washington to remove its illegal sanctions on Iran, four years after it unilaterally withdrew from the landmark Iran deal and launched a so-called campaign of maximum pressure against the Islamic Republic.