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‘Iran oil ban targets Great Satan US econ. rivals’

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast says US and European Union sanctions against the Islamic Republic’s energy sector target Washington’s economic rivals in Asia.

“One of their (US and EU) ulterior motives [in imposing oil sanctions] is defeating their Asian economic rivals but I believe that Asian states are too smart to jeopardize their national interests because of US political pressure,” Mehmanparast said on Sunday.

He went on to add that major Asian economies like China, Japan and India are in need of “sustainable and lasting” energy resources and the US wants to destabilize the energy market by imposing sanctions against Iran’s oil industry in order to inhibit the economic growth of its rivals.

“We are not the least but concerned about US sanctions because there are enough customers for Iranian crude oil and there are no problems in this regard,” Mehmanparast said.

On December 31, US President Barack Obama signed into law fresh economic sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

The bill requires foreign financial firms to make a choice between doing business with Iran’s Central Bank and oil sector or with the US financial sector. The legislation will not take effect for six months in a bid to provide oil markets with time to adjust.

Iranian officials have threatened that if an oil embargo is actually imposed on the country, Iran will respond by closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, making it impossible for any oil to pass through the Persian Gulf.

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