"The Iranian nation will prevail over these conditions although the enemy is exerting its utmost pressures," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran a few minutes ago.
"Enemies want to take revenge from the Iranian nation and they allege untruthfully that sanctions pressurize the government, while sanctions are pressures on nations," he added.
Ahmadinejad said the foreign media have recently launched a propaganda campaign to display that the West's intensified sanctions against Tehran over the latter's nuclear program have resulted in a currency plunge in Iran, and stressed, "These issue are just psychological warfare."
"The enemy wants to wage psychological war on us, therefore, we should be equipped and stand against the enemies united," he added.
The United States imposed additional sanctions against Iran's financial sector in late December.
US President Barack Obama authorized a law on New Year's Eve imposing fresh sanctions on financial institutions that deal with the Central Bank of Iran, Tehran's main clearing house for oil payments. The US has also persuaded the European countries to impose the same embargos against the CBI.
The extra US sanctions aim to squeeze Iran's oil sales, most of which are processed by the CBI, although many even in the West believe that the move would prove futile.
During the last two years, Iran has been replacing dollar with other currencies in its trade with the outside world.
Iran has replaced dollar in its oil trade with India, China, Russia and Japan. Late in November, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued the needed permission to the Central Bank of Iran to open rupee accounts with two Indian banks, namely UCO and IDBI, as a long-lasting solution to the two countries' payment problems.
Both accounts were opened in the respective banks' Mumbai branches.
A top official of city-based UCO Bank said while payments for his country's oil imports would initially be in rupees, it would be then converted into a separate currency, which was yet to be decided by the apex bank.
Also, Tehran and Moscow later announced that they had started using their own currencies (Rial and Ruble) instead of the US dollar in their bilateral trade exchanges
Iran Not to Give Up N. Rights
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that the Iranian nation would not give up even an iota of its nuclear rights.
Speaking to reporters here in Tehran on Tuesday, Ahmadinejad deplored the West's policy of pressure against Iran, and said, "If somebody thinks that he can bring the Iranian nation to the negotiating table and (to the resumption of) relations through ill temper and pressure, he is definitely wrong."
"If they have such expectation, they should change their method and correct their behavior," Ahmadinejad underscored.
Responding to a question about Iran's possible retreatment from nuclear rights, Ahmadinejad said, "What do you mean by Iran, Ahmadinejad or the Iranian nation? Neither the nation nor Ahmadinejad is of the type that retreats."
Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to produce electricity so that the world's fourth-largest crude exporter can sell more of its oil and gas abroad. Tehran also stresses that the country is pursuing a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
The US and its western allies allege that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program while they have never presented corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations against the Islamic Republic.
Iran is under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment, saying the demand is politically tainted and illogical.
Iran has so far ruled out halting or limiting its nuclear work in exchange for trade and other incentives, saying that renouncing its rights under the NPT would encourage the world powers to put further pressure on the country and would not lead to a change in the West's hardline stance on Tehran.
Warning of Iran's Crushing Response to Potential Aggressors
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that Iran will give a crushing response to any foreign aggression.
"We have never been offenders and we have never attacked any country, but we have always been such good defenders that we have made all aggressors repent of their actions," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, responding to a question about Iran's response to Israel's intensified war rhetoric.
He stressed that his accurate analysis of the current situation is that the US administration has come to the conclusion that the costs of extremist Zionists are more than their benefits "and that is why they (the US statesmen) want to harness them in one way or another in order to reach balance and the Israelis have realized this and are seeking adventurism to buy themselves a chance".
"Israelis think that threatening Iran will give them more time, but they are definitely wrong because their days are numbered and they should go away. If they leave like a good kid, they might have a place in the future world order, but the more they engage in adventurism, the worse their future will be, and no one should have doubt about this," the president said.
Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Iran has warned that it would target Israel and its worldwide interests in case it comes under attack by the Tel Aviv.
The United States has also always stressed that military action is a main option for the White House to deter Iran's progress in the field of nuclear technology.
In response, Iran has warned it would hit the US, Israel and their worldwide interests and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program.
Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a major oil shipping route.
Iranian Nation to Continue Path of Progress Powerfully, Smartly
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed the country's progress and advancement in different fields during the past years, and said the Iranian nation will continue the path "powerfully and vigilantly".
"The Iranian nation will powerfully and vigilantly continue its path with dignity and pride," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
He downplayed the attempts and plots made by enemies to prevent the Iranian nation's progress, and said, "Some (states) have stood against the Iranian nation not just in the last 33 years (after the Islamic Revolution in Iran) but all throughout the last 60 years and exert pressures on the Iranian nation at any stage of time under various excuses to prevent the Iranian nation's progress."
Iran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and the western embargos for turning down West's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.
Tehran has dismissed the West's demand as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.
Yet, Political observers believe that the United States has remained at loggerheads with Iran mainly over the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants.
Blaming Foreign, Domestic Elements for Currency Plunge
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took foreign and domestic factors responsible for the fluctuation of foreign currency rates in Iran, and cautioned that enemies have waged a covert war on Iran's economy with the battlefield stretched all throughout the world.
"Two factors have joined forces to exert pressure on the Iranian nation, one is foreign and the other is from inside," Ahmadinejad said, speaking at a press conference here in Tehran minutes ago.
He stated that the current foreign currency fluctuations are not related to economic problems, and said, "These fluctuations are due to animosity towards the (economic) policies of the government."
Meantime he said that enemies of Iran have mobilized their possibilities to block Iran's revenues and banking interactions, and noted, "In fact, this is a covert war and a very huge war stretched throughout the world."
Iran's currency slid between two and six percent in early trading on Tuesday, according to different valuations given by money changers in Tehran.
Calling for Materialization of NAM Role in Global Developments
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that international bodies must utilize the capacities of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to explore new ways of administrating the new world order.
Speaking to domestic and foreign reporters at a press conference in Tehran today, the president said that the NAM summit in which over 120 world countries took part to voice their significant role in the administration of global developments should be heeded.
The Iranian president further noted that he, as the rotating president of the NAM, has held "serious talks" with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about reforming the UN structure, and said that the UN chief welcomed his offer.
He further pointed to the 16th heads-of-state summit of NAM member states in Tehran and the annual session of the 67th United Nations General Assembly as the two major events of the international community.
He stressed the necessity of a "solid structure" for NAM, "because NAM is the only movement which lacks a stable structure".
In the same regard, Ahmadinejad said, the NAM members held a number of meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and decided to create the necessary fundamentals.
Tehran hosted the 16th NAM summit from August 26 to 31, including two days of talks among deputy foreign ministers followed by a two-day meeting of the NAM foreign ministers and eventually two days of talks among NAM leaders.
During the heads-of-state summit meeting on August 30-31, Iran inherited the three-year leadership of the Non-Aligned bloc, a platform for anti-Western sentiments and grievances over big-power domination.
NAM is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. The movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries.
US Should Revise Attitude towards Iran
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cautioned on Tuesday that Washington should reconsider its confrontational attitude towards Tehran.
"The US has to revise its attitude towards Iran, because confrontation has never been beneficial to them, and the US has sustained the most loss (due to its confrontation approach)," Ahmadinejad said at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
Responding to a question about the upcoming US presidential election and its impact on Iran, the president said the US media asked him the same question when he was in the US for a UN General Assembly meeting, but "reserved judgment, because I do not want to say anything to be regarded as an effort to influence that election".
"Surely the present conditions between Iran and US cannot be continued," Ahmadinejad stressed.
Analysts believe that the US is at loggerheads with Iran due mainly to the independent and home-grown nature of Tehran's nuclear technology, which gives the Islamic Republic the potential to turn into a world power and a role model for the other third-world countries. Washington has laid much pressure on Iran to make it give up the most sensitive and advanced part of the technology, which is uranium enrichment, a process used for producing nuclear fuel for power plants.
Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Both the US and Israel have recently intensified their war rhetoric against Iran, pretending that a strike on Iran's nuclear sites is impending.
In response, Iran has warned it would hit the US, Israel and their worldwide interests and close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if it became the target of a military attack over its nuclear program.
Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the strategic Persian Gulf waterway, is a major oil shipping route.
Mocking Netanyahu's Bomb Diagram
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad mocked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bomb diagram, saying that it was an insult to participants at the UN session.
"He had drawn an infantile diagram which was more an insult to the audience and that showed how they look at others; they see themselves in a high position and (see) other nations as to be nothing," Ahmadinejad told reporters in a press conference here in Tehran today.
"That is a very hideous behavior," Ahmadinejad added, and advised Netanyahu to "do more drawing homework to improve his drawing" skills.
When Netanyahu held up a cartoon-like drawing of a bomb during his speech at the UN he set off an explosion of jokes and mockery.
The Bibi Bomb, as it's being called using Netanyahu's nickname, is the latest in a series of props used by the Israeli leader as he tries to keep the global spotlight on Iran's nuclear program.
The image of Netanyahu and the diagram of a bomb with a lighted fuse was top news around the world. Headlines in Europe referred to his "bomb cartoon" and "comic strip."
