DTN News - IRAN NEWS: Iran Defiant As EU Imposes Oil Embargo
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - January 26, 2012: Iran has accused the European Union of waging "psychological warfare" after the bloc banned imports of Iranian oil over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.
The oil ban, which was approved at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, along with sanctions against Iran's central bank and other measures, came as Western powers stepped up pressure on Iran to return to negotiations amid concerns that it is moving closer to building nuclear weapons.
"The method of threat, pressure and unfair sanctions against a nation that has a strong reason for its approach is doomed to fail," Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, told the state broadcaster.
"European Union sanctions on Iranian oil is psychological warfare," Mehmanparast said.
"Imposing economic sanctions is illogical and unfair but will not stop our nation from obtaining its rights."
Iran's oil ministry issued a statement saying the sanctions did not come as a shock. "The oil ministry has from long ago thought about it and has come up with measures to deal with any challenges," it said, according to the IRNA news agency.
Mehmanparast said: "The European countries and those who are under American pressure, should think about their own interests. Any country that deprives itself from Iran's energy market, will soon see that it has been replaced by others."
