International sanctions against Iran are ineffective, said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and they must be resisted.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Leader told a group of the country’s economic and financial officials that the true aim of the sanctions is “to paralyze Iran’s economy.”
In the past few years, the United Nations Security Council has passed four resolutions to impose sanctions on Iran, aiming to pressure the country to stop its uranium enrichment activities. Iran has rejected these resolutions, insisting that all its nuclear activities are peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran’s Supreme Leader said: “The main reason for these sanctions is really not the nuclear energy issue, because these sanctions began 32 years ago, when there was no discussion of the nuclear issue.”
“If imposing sanctions were effective and accomplished our enemies’ goals,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Iran would have given them what they wanted in the very early days of the Revolution, let alone now, when our country and people have gradually become resistant to such sanctions.”
These statements come as sanctions prevent the Iranian government from collecting billions of dollars in oil purchase payments from the Indian government.
The U.S. Senate recently supported a plan to boycott the Central Bank of Iran.
The senators have written to U.S. President Barack Obama, urging him to impose sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran because they believe Iran uses it to circumvent international sanctions already in place.
The U.S. senators says it is time to impose “crippling pressure” on the Iranian financial system with sanctions against the central bank.
The Supreme Leader called on Iranians to make the extra effort to ensure economic growth.
