Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a meeting with tribal leaders in Kerbala, Iraq, March 12, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen / File.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reiterated on Wednesday that Tehran will continue selling its oil despite US sanctions and said Washington’s policy of putting pressure on Iran would fail in practice.

Rouhani called the US decision to try to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero a “baseless” policy, and said, “The Americans’ power is not as much as they say.”

The United States demanded on April 22 that buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers that had allowed Iran’s eight biggest customers, most of them in Asia, to import limited volumes.