Nov 8, 2007, 13:31 GMT
Berlin - Sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran to press Tehran to abandon its uranium enrichment programme are 'senseless,' Trade Minister Seyed Masood Mir Kazemi told a German newspaper Thursday.
'Although these punitive measures have been imposed on us for the past three decades, we are making great economic progress,' Kazemi told the daily newspaper Junge Welt.
The Iranian economy had grown by 50 per cent last year alone, the minister claimed.
All countries, with the exception of the 'aggressors' US and Israel, wanted to pursue dialogue, he said.
Kazemi expressed pleasure at the rise in world oil prices to close to 100 dollars a barrel. 'Higher prices means higher income for us,' he said.
But he insisted that Tehran could not be held responsible. Rather countries 'which provoke conflicts and problems in the region' were to blame, he said.
There was sufficient crude oil available to satisfy demand.
Kazemi predicted that if the nuclear dispute with the US was solved, another difficulty would crop up.
'If it is resolved, Washington will find another conflict issue,' he said in remarks to be published Friday.
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