Iran: Nuclear program isn't reason for sanctions

Israel Hayom

Iran's economy minister said Tuesday his government believes the West's preoccupation with Tehran's nuclear program is only "a cover" for increasingly tougher sanctions, which have become "quite vast, all-encompassing, and political most of all."

Economic Affairs and Finance Minister Shamseddin Hosseini wouldn't say whether he believes the motive for sanctions is regime change, but he defended the government's legitimacy.

He also accused the six major powers trying to rein in Iran's nuclear program -- the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- of trying to keep Tehran from gaining the latest scientific knowledge in areas such as nanotechnology, aerospace technology and nuclear science.

The six powers have invested heavily in these scientific frontiers, Hosseini said, but "when it comes to us, these are forbidden frontiers for us to cross into."

"We believe that the nuclear issue is not the central reason behind these sanctions," he said. "This is only a cover." Hosseini again pointed to the new era of "a knowledge-based economy" that he claimed the West is trying to keep Iran from obtaining.

But Hosseini made clear that Iran will not be deterred from its nuclear program, which the U.S., Israel and many Western nations fear is aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

"We see our way forward in scientific progress and the progress of civilian, peaceful nuclear science is one of our highest priorities, and therefore we will continue steadfast on this path," he said.

In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with a group of journalists at Iran's U.N. Mission, Hosseini insisted that the government has been dealing successfully with many obstacles posed by three rounds of U.N. sanctions as well as the latest and toughest U.S. and European Union sanctions targeting the country's central bank and oil exports.

On a positive note, he said, sanctions have spurred domestic production and more Iranians are vacationing in the country, keeping "hard-earned petrodollars" from flowing out.

But Hosseini said the sanctions have had an impact, especially the measures targeting oil exports and the central bank, which equates to "sanctioning every single bank and financial institution" in the country.

"We are not able to mitigate every effect of the sanctions or prevent them," he said.

Hosseini pointed to an increase in inflation from 21 percent in 2011 to 30% last year, and said that after sanctions were imposed on the central bank the transfer of currency became very difficult.

With a decrease in oil exports reducing foreign currency reserves, he said, "We witnessed and we shouldered a foreign currency shock" which caused an overwhelming increase in the price of imported goods and higher prices for exported goods as well.

The result has been a decrease of about 14% in imports and a switch to domestic production of many goods once purchased abroad, Hosseini said.

In addition, non-oil exports including industrial goods, minerals and agriculture increased by 20% last year, he said.

This is why the Iranian economy "has become more robust," Hosseini said, adding that "there is no doubt that during the last year the growth rate in Iran was positive."

Sanctions have forced Iranians to work harder and find new ways and new trading partners, he said.

"We never have and we never will stop behind the obstacles that they create on our path," Husseini said. "We never have welcomed these sanctions -- any sanctions -- but when they are placed upon us, we will overcome them as we have, even though it entails quite a lot of trouble, quite a lot of hard work."