Ahmadinejad:”We have no argument with Americans. We like them like other nations,”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday that the western sanctions against Tehran mean an all-out war.

“It is an all-out, hidden, heavy war,” President Ahmadinejad said during a TV interview Tuesday night.

The president said the US and EU sanctions against the Iranian oil and banking sectors have caused problems, but underlined, “We are going ahead, and God willing we will succeed.”

Ahmadinejad said his administration is removing the barriers, pledging that the enemies of Iran would not achieve their goals.

“There are barriers in transferring money, there are barriers in selling oil, but we are removing” the barriers.

In July, the European Union banned oil imports from Iran, just after the US enacted tough measures against Iran’s central bank. The West’s sanctions are meant to press Iran to give up its nuclear rights.

Ahmadinejad also repeated his previous statements that Iran is a friend to the American people and other nations – except Israel.

“We have no argument with Americans. We like them like other nations,” he said, and added that “ruling groups” in the US have worked against relations with Iran.