Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday a “budget of resistance” against US sanctions targeting the country’s vital oil sector, backed by a $5 billion Russian investment.

Rouhani said the aim was to reduce “hardships” in Iran where a shock fuel price hike last month triggered nationwide demonstrations that turned deadly.

After unilaterally withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May last year, the US began imposing sanctions on Tehran, including on oil exports, which it aims to squeeze to zero in a campaign of “maximum pressure”.

“We know that under the situation of sanctions and pressure, people are in hardship. We know people’s purchasing power has declined,” he said.The budget would benefit from a $5 billion “investment” from Russia which was still being finalised, said Rouhani.

“We hope that $5 billion in capital will enter the country, either through plans that have already been finalised or which will be finalised next year,” he said.Iran and Russia have strengthened ties in recent years, with both backing President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war.

Rouhani told lawmakers the budget, which includes a 15-percent public sector wage hike, “is a budget of resistance and perseverance against sanctions”.

He said the fiscal plan came in response to the “maximum pressure and continuation of America’s sanctions” and vowed it would signal “to the world that, despite sanctions, we will manage the country, especially in terms of oil”.