Hemmati pointed to the CBI policy of open market operations and said that most countries in the world carry out their monetary and inflation control policies through open market operations, reported Tasnim News Agency.

“These operations are an important tool in the structure of central banks across the globe,” the official added.

“Iran’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves are unprecedented over the past decade, but we will not inject these [reserves] to the market because they are the country’s strategic reserves and support for the CBI,” Hemmati said.

The remarks come against the backdrop of increased tensions between Iran and the US, with Washington imposing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

The US has ratcheted up pressure on Iran since May 2018, after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump is trying to reduce Iran’s oil exports to “zero,” and has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, a bomber squad, an amphibious assault ship, and a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East to try to stack up pressure on Tehran.

Iranian officials, however, have dismissed such moves as psychological warfare, saying the country has its own ways of circumventing the American sanctions.