Iran vowed Friday that its nuclear policy remained "totally
unchanged" after the United States imposed new sanctions on Tehran,
the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iran's new chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili made the
remarks to reporters at the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran upon his
returning from talks in Rome with European Union foreign policy
chief Javier Solana.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran's basic policy of negotiations
aimed at seeking new ways for cooperation and resolving the
outstanding issues with the UN nuclear agency and removal of
misunderstanding about national nuclear program remains totally
unchanged," Jalili told the reporters.
"Since we have lived under US sanctions during the past 28
years, this move was merely a new step in line with their former
moves," he said.
Jalili's comments came after the United States announced on
Thursday that it is imposing new sanctions against Iran because
Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and
is engaging in a nuclear buildup.
The sanctions will be imposed against Iran's Defense Ministry,
its Revolutionary Guard Corps and more than 20 Iranian companies,
banks and individuals.
Under US laws, any assets found in the United States belonging
to the designated groups must be frozen. Americans are also
forbidden from doing business with them.
The sanctions are believed to be the toughest Washington has
levied against Iran since the 1979 takeover of the US.Embassy in
Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini on
Thursday slammed the sanctions, saying the US measures were doomed
to failure.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2007)
