“With the measures devised by the [Iranian] diplomatic apparatus, from today we will witness the gradual removal of the sanctions,” Salehi told reporters on Sunday.

“The enemies claimed last year that crippling sanctions against Iran were on their way; however, they themselves have admitted that sanctions have not had much impact in Iran.”

“If the enemy has spent USD 100 to impose sanctions on Iran, it has not benefitted and reaped even USD 10 [in return],” the minister added.

He noted that the sanctions only caused problems for Iran in accessing foreign exchange, while the country earned USD 100 billion in revenue from oil sales every year.

Salehi said that Iran’s initiatives over the past 34 years have succeeded in tempering the adverse effects of the pressures exerted on the country.

He noted that Iran’s economy is not export-based and the value of the country’s annual economic exchanges stand at around USD one trillion based on purchasing power parity.

The Iranian minister explained that the country had succeeded in thwarting a major part of sanctions and said that Iran has 15 neighbors by land and sea and it is hard to impose sanctions on such a country.

The United States, the Zionist regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program. Iran has categorically rejected the allegation.

Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed several rounds of illegal unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.