Roundup: Iran vows to withstand West's sanction pressures

As the talks over Iran's disputed nuclear issue nears its sensitive epoch, the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged on Wednesday not to surrender to the sanction pressures by the West.

Iran can retaliate the West-imposed sanctions by stopping natural gas exports to the western countries, Khamenei said.

"Iran is in possession of world's largest sum of oil and gas reserves, of which the world and Europe are in dire need. Iran can impose sanction on them if it is necessary," Khamenei was quoted as saying by official IRNA news.

The enemy is abusing the sanction tool to hinder the progress of Iran, and even if the course of the nuclear negotiations will move forward in their favor, they will not remove the sanctions against Iran, the Iranian leader said, reasoning that they are against the very foundations of the Islamic revolution.

The "resilient economy" is the only way to withstand the western sanctions and to offset their pressures; otherwise, the enemy will pose further conditions in the nuclear negotiations, he said.

Khamenei reiterated in his earlier remarks that the economy of Iran should cut its reliance on oil sales and turn to domestic capacities and the potentials of its youth.

Iran's economy relies partially on oil exports. Due to the slumping oil prices and Western sanctions on its energy and financial sector, Iran's crude oil exports have fallen by 60 percent to a little over one million barrels per day.

Besides, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, dismissed on Wednesday the recent decision by the European Union (EU) to put the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) back on its list of sanctions.

An EU decision to blacklist the NITC again is "politically-motivated and non-constructive," Afkham, said in her weekly press briefing.

The move is "regrettable" as Iran and the world powers are engaged in the talks to break the deadlock over the country's nuclear issue, Afkham said, advising the EU governments to refrain from what she said will undermine mutual trust.

In July 2014, the EU's second-highest court ruled to de-list the NITC from the bloc's list of sanctioned firms, but the EU decided on Feb. 12 to keep the company on its list and vowed to seek legal means in so doing.

Also, the Iranian spokeswoman told reporters that Iran does not consider a two-stage nuclear deal in the remaining time leading up to a deadline by July.

Asked whether the talks for a potential comprehensive nuclear deal will continue if a political framework cannot be agreed on by the end of March, Afkham said based on the November agreement, the talks were extended for another seven months and both Iran and the world powers are committed to the negotiations.

"Obviously, we will not have a two-stage agreement in the course of the negotiations by the end of the deadline, and the pre-condition of a political framework is not a hindrance to the one-stage agreement," she added.

Iran agreed to suspend nuclear activities in return for limited ease of sanctions under an interim deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group (namely the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) on Nov. 24, 2013.

After failing to bridge gaps last year, both sides are committed to agreeing on a political framework by the end of March, before heading towards another self-imposed deadline by July this year.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif that the United States aimed "to move toward a political framework by the end of March."

In response, Iran's Supreme Leader urged a single-stage "detailed" agreement, suggesting that an agreement on political framework cannot serve as a prerequisite for the continuation of talks.

The Western powers have imposed rounds of diverse sanctions on Iran, accusing the Islamic Republic of having been developing atomic weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear plan.

Iran rejected the allegations as baseless, and insisted that its nuclear program is solely peaceful and all the western sanctions should be lifted "at once" after a final nuclear deal is clinched. Endit