Iran says sanctions is "lose-lose strategy": minister

Iran says sanctions is "lose-lose strategy": minister
 Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Commerce Mehdi Ghazanfari said Monday that the West's sanctions on Iran has a two-way impact and is a lose-lose strategy where both sides will lose.

Responding to a reporter's question concerning the impact of potential U.S. sanctions against Iran, especially in energy sector, Ghazanfari said that this is a lose-lose strategy, that is, Iran will be under the sanction pressures, the outcome of sanctions will be costly for the country and money transfer will be harder.

Adopting sanctions will not be for the good of the West but will harm their interests too, Ghazanfari said.

If they do not invest in Iran's energy sector, they will lose Iran's energy industry market for at least 20 years, said the Iranian minister, adding that in the face of sanctions from Western countries Iran will think of other substitutes.

There are other ways for cooperation and investments, and there are several ways for Iran to connect to the world, he said, adding that local producers and investors can step in and undermine the impact of sanctions.

Media reports said that the U.S. Barack Obama administration will announce new sanctions against Iran's financial institutions and petrochemical industry on Monday.

New U.S. sanctions will be adopted in response to the Western concerns that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran has rejected the claims, insisting on the civilian nature of its nuclear program.

On Monday, Ghazanfari said that sanctions will further create distance between the sides and will not help settle the problems, adding that it is better to think of reasonable and logical ways to solve the issues.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-11-21 23:31:49 FeedbackPrintRSS
TEHRAN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua)