Anti-Iran sanctions are ineffective: Iran`s official

TEHRAN, Nov. 23 (MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday dismissed the new sanctions imposed on Iran as ineffective. Mehmanparast made the remarks during his regular press briefing in response to a question about the fact that the United States, Britain, and Canada on Monday announced new sanctions on Iran’s energy and financial sectors and that the U.S. named Iran as an area of primary money laundering concern. According to Reuters, Washington blacklisted 11 entities suspected of aiding Tehran’s nuclear program and expanded sanctions to target companies that aid its oil and petrochemical industries. Britain also ordered all British financial institutions to stop doing business with their Iranian counterparts, including the Iranian central bank. In addition, Canada said that it would ban the export of all goods used in Iran’s petrochemical, oil, and gas industry and “block virtually all transactions with Iran,” including with its central bank, with an exception for Iranian-Canadians to send money home. The sanctions were announced based on a report by International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano released on November 8, in which he claimed that Iran appears to have worked on designing an atomic bomb. Mehmanparast said, “It seems that the Western countries, particularly the U.S., are facing serious problems. They feel that their foreign policies in the Middle East and North Africa, which are sensitive areas, have totally failed. The developments occurring in the region are against the interests of the U.S. and the Zionist regime… They should leave the region, they should leave Iraqi soil, they should leave Afghanistan, and the developments that have taken place in Egypt and various countries of the region have made them worried and incensed. Besides, internal problems that have arisen in the Western countries, particularly the U.S., have fueled social and economic discontent. “The scenarios that are being pursued are meant to change the status quo and raise new issues. They feel that they can sow discord among Muslim countries in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region through highlighting the issue of Iranophobia, or they have made a false assumption and think that they can exert pressure on our nation through (the adoption of) resolutions and coordinated measures to compel them to relinquish their fundamental rights. However, if our nation feels that the enemies are seeking to preclude them from enjoying their rights, they will continue on the path they have been following more unitedly and determinedly than before.”