TEHRAN: Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei vowed on Wednesday that his country would resist global sanctions imposed over its nuclear programme, saying that Iran might respond to international pressure by cutting back gas exports.
The enemy is using the lever of sanctions to the hilt and their goal is to humiliate the Iranian nation and to halt Irans move towards the modern Islamic civilization.
Addressing a massive public gathering here, the leader made it clear that anti-Iran sanctions will remain in place even if the country agrees with the demands of the other side in the course of talks on Tehrans peaceful nuclear program.
I believe that if we allow them to dictate to us on the nuclear issue, they will still keep the sanctions in place because what they are against is the very foundation of our (Islamic) revolution.
Iran is in talks with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to end a decade-old stand-off over its nuclear programme, which the West fears could be used to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran denies having any nuclear weapons ambitions and is seeking an end to international sanctions. Sanctions were imposed in 1979 soon after a popular revolution ousted US backed monarchy in Iran.
Serious work must take place. We can withstand the sanctions and neutralise and foil the enemys goals. If we dont, the enemy would proceed and place more conditions, leader said.
Imam Khamenei underlined that Iran needs to rely on the capacities of its young generation, warning that Iran could also impose sanctions in the face of the threats made by the bullying US administration and the sanctions slapped by its European followers.
If sanctions are to be the way, the Iranian nation can also do it. A big collection of the worlds oil and gas is in Iran so Iran if necessary can hold back on the gas that Europe and the world is so dependent on.
Iran produces 2.7 million barrels of oil per day. It also produces 600 million cubic metres per day of gas although Iranian officials say they plan to double gas production in two years.
He further called for the formulation of plans to strengthen the countrys economy by cutting its dependence on oil revenues and state ownership. Selling crude oil and spending its revenue in the country is the easiest way to make money, leader warned, and slammed the harmful method as an ominous legacy of the monarchical regime.
Reiterating the necessity to implement the Resistance Economy plan, he said Irans budget should become free of the petrodollars.
Ayatollah Khamenei also said the United States, which has waged air strikes against Daesh (ISIS) fighters in Iraq and Syria, had written to Tehran about tackling the radical group. But he accused Washington of secretly supporting Daesh militants.
They wrote a letter to the Iranian foreign ministry promising not to support Daesh, not knowing that the evidence in photographs of their military assistance to Daesh was already in the hands of the revolutionary forces, Iranian leader said.
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