Sanandaj, June 16, IRNA � Presidential aide Hojjatoleslam Ali Younessi blasted the alliance of Wahhabis and Zionism is meant to prevent removal of oppressive sanctions against Iran

'The alliance of Wahhabism and Zionism has been formed to prevent the lifting of oppressive embargos imposed against Iran,' Younessi said, addressing a seminar in the Western city of Sanandaj on Tuesday.

'The rivals of Iran first brought the prices of oil in the region to its lowest level and then they waged a war to prevent striking final agreement and removal of sanctions,' Younessi added.

Iran has taken wide strides in science and technology in recent years.

Washington and its western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists 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.

Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions and the unilateral western embargos for turning down west's calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

Tehran has dismissed west's demands as politically tainted and illogical, stressing that sanctions and pressures merely consolidate Iranians' national resolve to continue the path.

Tehran has repeatedly said that it considers its nuclear case closed as it has come clean of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s questions and suspicions about its past nuclear activities.

By IRNA