Europe damaged by submission to US

A senior Iranian lawmaker has played down unilateral sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union against Iran, saying such measures will harm the West itself.

“History shows that Europe’s submission to the United States has been harmful to European countries,” Head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said in a meeting with former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Tehran on Sunday.

Boroujerdi said sanctions have had no impact on Iran’s development, adding, “Over the past 30 years, the Iranian nation turned sanctions into opportunities for progress in advanced sciences and technologies”.

The Iranian lawmaker reiterated that all reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have confirmed non-diversion in Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

“The Iranian nation will never give up its right to use peaceful nuclear energy in line with the IAEA regulations and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Boroujerdi went on to say.

He also added that nuclear weapons have no room in Iran’s defense strategy and said Iran’s principle policy is based on non-proliferation of such arms.

Prodi, for his part, supported Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy and called for holding negotiations between the sides to resolve remaining issues concerning the country’s nuclear case.

In addition to the UN Security Council sanctions resolution against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy program, the European Union and the US have imposed their own set of sanctions on Iran.

Tehran maintains its insistence on exercising its legitimate rights to pursue a civilian nuclear program and has fiercely rejected Western allegations that it may be looking for nuclear armaments.