Rouhani reshuffles economic team, says US isolated against Iran

DUBAI (Reuters): Iran’s parliament approved a government economic reshuffle on Saturday, days before new US sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports take effect, after President Hassan Rouhani said Washington was isolated among its allies in its confrontation with Iran.

“It does not happen often that the US makes a decision and its traditional allies abandon it,” Rouhani told parliament before the vote to approve the new appointments.

Academic Farhad Dejpasand, widely seen as a technocrat, received a vote of confidence by a wide margin as the new minister of economics and finance.

The reshuffle, approved in a parliamentary session carried live on state TV, also brought in new industry, labour and roads ministers.

Washington reintroduced sanctions against Iran’s currency trade, metals and auto sectors in August after it pulled out from a multinational 2015 deal that lifted sanctions in return for limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

European countries have criticised the United States for withdrawing from the accord and have been putting together a package of economic measures to help offset the impact of US pressures on Tehran’s economy.

Diplomats told Reuters that a new European Union mechanism to facilitate payments for Iranian exports should be legally in place by Nov. 4, when the next phase of US sanctions targeting Iran’s vital oil exports take effect, although it will not be operational until early next year.

“Our main enemy, America, faces us with a drawn sword and we have to fight it and we have to unite. Regardless of factions ... we are all part of the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said earlier, urging MPs to vote for his proposed ministers.