Iranian Presidential Advisor: There Will be no Sanctions

Sheila Parsi, Rooz Online:

While stressing the success of Iran's nuclear achievements, Dr. Ali Zabihi, Mahmoud a presidential advisor to Ahmadinejad claims that the international community would not impose sanctions on Iran over its accomplishments. He also strived to calm public concerns over possible economic sanctions by saying that even if they came, the budget of the provinces would not be impacted by it.

This is the message that the government in Tehran has been sending to the nation with the goal of portraying to the international community a public that supports the government’s nuclear policies and programs. READ MORE

Speaking at a gathering of managers and students of Gilan University, Zabihi argued that the very circles that criticized Iran’s nuclear program were in fact opposing the achievements of Iran’s youth, while they themselves had attained exactly the same achievements earlier in history.

Zabihi claimed that the world would face a serious energy crisis in 2010 and said that the energy needs of “states that claim to be superpowers” would grow but that they worked to stop other countries from achieving scientific advances and strived to control the energy sources and markets. “This is the reason why they had not permitted Iran to make advances in certain areas”, he said. He argued that the principal reason why the West opposed Iran’s nuclear programs was because of its sensitivities to Iran’s vast oil reserves.

He then claimed that the Iran’s revolution of 1979 had prevented the West from its pursuing its plans and achieving its goals. “They tried to stop or divert the Islamic revolution” because of the accomplishments it had achieved, he said. “But they failed. They have tried to present Iranians as terrorists and illiterate people, and in some instances they even succeeded”, he said. “But now, Iran is among the world’s 5 or 6 countries in respect to technology and our revolution is now recognized and accepted. So now these countries are telling us that we have no right to this technology while they themselves have already developed it.”

At the end of his talk, while stating that the West continued its policy of containing Iran, it has also camped in the regional neighborhood with the goal of controlling Iran. “But they will not succeed because of the growing world public opinion against them, while Iran shall continue to its power despite their hues and cries.”