Iran rejects US sanctions

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that fresh US sanctions amounted to "psychological warfare" which would fail to disrupt its nuclear program.

US President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday imposing stricter sanctions on Iran and its central bank in a bid to tighten pressure on Iranian commerce and ultimately disrupt the country's nuclear ambitions. The new measures gave US banks the power to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast asserted, however, that Iran's central bank had no financial transactions with the United States and therefore would not be affected by the measures.

"Many of these [US] activities are in the sphere of psychological war and propaganda, and they cannot affect our work," he said.

He added that the latest penalties would also not deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program.

"No country, no power has the ability to deprive the Iranian nation of its [nuclear] rights," he stressed. "Our history has shown that sanctions, which are totally illogical, have accelerated our nation's progress."

Iranian reprisal

Among accusations leveled at Iranian banks, the White House said there were deficiencies in Iran's anti-money laundering regime, making it necessary to have the power to block all Iranian government assets held or traded in the US.

By ordering the new sanctions, Obama was moving to enforce a wide-ranging defense bill he signed into law in December 2011. They add to other US and EU sanctions imposed since November which target Iranian oil exports in an attempt to restrict Iran's access to foreign finance and commerce.

The sanctions are a response to Tehran's alleged nuclear ambitions. Israel and the West have accused Iran of developing a nuclear bomb - claims which Tehran denies.

On Tuesday Iranian lawmakers vowed to retaliate by speeding up the passage of a bill banning crude oil exports to European countries.

"The draft bill has been almost finalized. It will oblige the government to immediately cut oil exports to the EU. The bill also will ban import of any goods from the EU," lawmaker Parviz Sarvari told Iran's semi-official Fars news agency. An EU ban on Iranian oil imports has already been imposed, but was not scheduled to affect existing contracts until later this year.

ccp/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)