WarSclerotic

Ahmadinejad: Western sanctions c… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

By REUTERS

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that his country’s economy would not be damaged by newly imposed Western sanctions, AFP reported. “At one point our trade with Europe was around 90 percent but now it is only approximately 10%, and even this 10% we don’t need… History has shown that the Iranian nation can not be hurt [by Western sanctions],” Ahmadinejad said.

Ahmadinejad’s comment came just one day after he agreed to increase bank interest rates on bank deposits up to 21%, hoping to halt a spiraling currency crisis intensified by the new sanctions.

On Monday, the European Union announced new sanctions on Iran which it hopes will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. The sanctions, targeting Iran’s vital oil exports and its central bank, will come into full effect by July 1.

The announcement places the EU and the United States on a unified path aimed at damaging the Iranian economy to force Tehran’s compliance with the international community. Sanctions by the two have already hit the Iranian currency; the rial has been steadily losing value against the dollar, prompting extreme intervention measures by Tehran’s central bank.

Turning to the US, Ahmadinejad said that “for the past 30 years the Americans have not been buying oil from us.” He added that Tehran’s central bank has no relations with the US, according to the AFP report.

British daily The Telegraph quoted him as saying that “they have this excuse that Iran is dodging negotiations while it is not the case… Why should we run away from the negotiations?”

This entry was posted on January 26, 2012 at 2:26 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.