Iran can thwart sanctions by hard work

A senior Iranian official says the West has been piling up pressure on the Islamic Republic with toughest ever sanctions, urging hard work to overcome the pressure.

“During the past 30 years, we had a war and military threats but we have never seen the [global] arrogance… plan such a calculated assault against us,” Chairman of Iran’s Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in the 8th meeting of the assembly on Tuesday.

The senior Iranian official said that Iran was facing harshest ever sanctions but added that it could avoid them if “it utilizes all its political and scientific capacities.”

Ayatollah Rafsanjani also criticized the recent report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying it offered nothing new but unjustly accused Iran of not cooperating since it did not allow certain IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities.

He further pointed out that the nuclear issue was a pretext for the West to pile up pressure on the Islamic Republic.

The IAEA released its latest report on Iran’s nuclear work last Monday, in which it once again confirmed that it continued to “verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran” but urged Iran to “cooperate in clarifying outstanding issues.”

The agency also claimed in its latest report that Tehran’s “repeated objections” to the designation of experienced inspectors could hamper the process of monitoring Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Iran says that according to the terms of an agreement with the IAEA, it is Tehran’s right to vet inspectors and member states are not obliged to provide a reason for such a decision.