Iran says Japan deprived from using Iran's potentials by sanctions

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Sunday that any country, including Japan, which imposes sanctions against Iran, will deprive itself from taking advantages of Iran's potentials, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Any country joining the sanction-imposing states club against Iran will deprive itself from taking advantages of the country's high potentials," Mehmanparast told IRNA, reacting to Japan's latest move to impose new sanctions on Iran.

Japan's cabinet Friday approved new sanctions against Iran, including an assets freeze on figures linked to its nuclear program and tighter restrictions on financial transactions.

Japan also said it would suspend new oil and gas investments in Iran, but there are no plans to restrict imports of crude oil from the Islamic republic, a major energy supplier to resource-poor Japan.

The Iranian spokesman said such moves would affect the national interests of the countries that have imposed new sanctions against Iran, IRNA quoted him as saying.

The anti-Iran sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council were all "illegal and unfair," he said, adding that "The sanctions were imposed only because Iranians want their legitimate right of having peaceful nuclear technology."

Japan's steps come a month after Tokyo approved punitive measures in line with a June UN Security Council resolution which slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work.

Mounting additional unilateral political pressures on Iran would have no effect on the country and would only arouse its resistance, IRNA quoted Mehmanparast as saying.

Source: Xinhua