In an interview with Shana, Mohammad Sadegh Torabifard said that it is not advisable to idle away the sanctions under the sanctions, referring to the sanctions imposed on China in the 1970s and 1980s and the continuation of these sanctions in the present era. “What the Chinese did in the face of the sanctions forced the imposers of their sanctions to lift some of them.”

Regarding the importance of signing the Turkmen gas swap to Azerbaijan from Iran, he said: "Signing such agreements will reduce Iran's ability to be targeted by sanctions and will create an upper hand for Iran. In such a situation, the United States and the sanctions will have to issue an exemption from sanctions, as happened in the case of Iranian gas exports to Iraq, and the United States issued an exemption for this country.”

The economist stressed the need to change Iran's status from an "energy seller" to an "energy hub," and said that by changing this role, Iran could use these conditions as a trump card: Iranian diplomats can use the gas swap agreement as a trump card in the Vienna talks.