Iran Minister: Economic Sanctions Not A New Issue

Abhar, Zanjan prov., May 19, IRNA - Minister of Industry, Mines and Commerce Mehdi Ghazanfari announced that imposing economic sanctions against Iran is not a new issue. “Despite sanctions, the Iranian Industry is moving forward with 'full speed',” Ghazanfari said. Talking to journalists here in the northwestern country, he said although the sanctions have targeted all sections of Iranian industry, proper measures have been taken to defuse such actions. He said the Islamic Republic of Iran has the capacity to withstand all kinds of sanctions. Contrary to what Western countries fancied, their unilateral sanctions have so far failed to have any serious impact on Iran. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced early this month that the Western nations are suffering the most from the sanctions on Iran. “Western countries were already suffering from the global economic and financial crises. Therefore, the western nations have been subject to the most pressures from their self-imposed sanctions on Iran,' Salehi said./end