A Senior Adviser to the Iranian President spoke exclusively to Russia Today. Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi shared his views on the possibility of a war between the U.S. and Iran.

“The current political situation in the world shows that at the moment there is no reason for the US to attack Iran. The American people are unhappy about the possibility of a war. But if Washington sees that it could benefit from war with Iran, and that it could be useful, they will certainly do it. But nevertheless at the moment there are no grounds for a war. Iran is not a country that's likely to attack a foreign nation. Our actions show no such intention. We hope the war will never happen,” Hashemi said.

RT: If a package of sanctions is approved, what would it mean for Iran?

“From a political point of view, the new sanctions would not affect us. Our rights on the international arena have been established. The fact that the UN Security Council uses the sanctions to exert political pressure on Iran and that its actions are unjust has been proved,” Hashemi noted.

“You saw that the two previous resolutions had little effect on Iran. The Iranian nation stands on its own two feet, and can support itself. Iran has been subjected to U.S. sanctions for 27 years. That was a very good opportunity for our nation to prove that we can develop successfully on our own and solve our own problems,” he added.

“We used the situation to develop. So, the new sanctions will not destroy Iran's economy. We, as well as our neighbouring countries, such as Russia, are very determined. And we have decided to live an independent life,” Hashemi said. The second part is available here.