Ahmadinejad calls on Iranians to remain united against Western sanctions

Iran president tries to downplay sanctions, says British decision to cut ties with Iran banks and French decision to stop importing oil from Iran is irrelevant.

By DPA

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on his people to not let themselves be intimidated and to remain united against Western sanctions designed to make the country give up its nuclear aspirations, the ISNA news agency reported Friday.

"We cannot expect any fair approach by the enemies (of Iran), because they have always had deep enmity with the Iranian people," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with the people of the city of Islamshahr, south of Tehran.

	Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran, Tuesday, May 18, 2010.
	Photo by: AP

"But what the people should do now is to stay united and not get intimidated for neutralizing all the enemies' plots," the president added.

Ahmadinejad was referring to sanctions on Iran planned by the United States, Britain, France and Canada after a report by the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tehran had tested designs used to make nuclear warheads.

Iran has tried to downplay the impacts of the sanctions, which are to include a halt to banking cooperation with the country and a block on Iranian oil imports.

Ahmadinjead said that, as far as the U.S. was concerned, there have been no diplomatic ties with Washington for the last 32 years. Accordingly, there have been no banking ties either.

Additionally, the Iranian Central Bank said that the British decision to cut all ties with Iranian banks would have no effect on the country's economy, as Iran had cut its relations with the British central bank a long time ago.

Within the same context, Iran's Oil Ministry said that the decision by France to stop importing oil from Iran was irrelevant, as there is no Iranian oil exported to France.

Ahmadinejad and other Iranian top officials have stressed that suggestions of sanctions, and even military threats, will not intimidate the country. More specifically, they say, it will not force Iran to stop its nuclear program.

Following military threats from Israel, Iranian voluntary forces and students have held several gatherings in recent days to promise a harsh reply to any military attacks on Iranian nuclear sites