EU sanctions are illegal, inhumane: Iran

TEHRAN,Oct.17(MNA) – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the new sanctions adopted against Iran by the European Union over the country’s nuclear program are illegal and inhuman and advised world powers to return to the negotiating table with a logical approach. Mehmanparast made the remarks during his regular press briefing in Tehran on Tuesday in reply to a question about the new sanctions that the EU adopted against Iran on Monday and the remarks that EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton made on Monday, in which she expressed hope that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program could move forward very soon. Ashton, who represents the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) in nuclear negotiations with Iran, said, “I absolutely think there is room for negotiations.” The latest round of high-level talks between Iran and the six major powers was held in Moscow on June 18 and 19. Mehmanparast said, “We have clearly put forward our proposals to the 5+1 countries, and, by the admission of the representatives of the 5+1 countries, these proposals are comprehensive and constructive. “We think that the miscalculation that these countries have been making will distance them from a favorable result. “We recommend that they return to the negotiating table with a logical approach instead of adopting a wrong approach, being stubborn, and resorting to the exertion of pressures that only make our people more united. “They do not know the spirit of our nation. These measures are wrong (through which) they will gain nothing.” He also said that the adoption of unilateral sanctions is illegal, illogical, unprincipled, and inhumane. The West is using Iran’s nuclear program as a pretext to exert pressure on the Iranian people, Mehmanparast added.