By Xinhua

TEHRAN, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran's �General Hassan Firouzabadi condemned on Tuesday the U.S. and European Union (EU) sanctions against the Islamic republic as contradictory to international laws, Press TV reported.

Firouzabadi said that the Western embargos are not only against the sovereignty and independence of nations, but also contravene the charter of the United Nations.

The Iranian commander downplayed sanctions as futile and noted that the Islamic republic has rendered Western bans ineffective through increased research activities.

The UN Security Council imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran between 2006 and 2010 over its refusal to halt its nuclear enrichment program, which Western countries suspect could be used to develop nuclear weapons.

The United States and EU have imposed and expanded sanctions of their own over the years despite Tehran's insistence on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

Under political and economic pressures by the West over the controversial nuclear program, Iran's local currency has been depreciated against foreign ones significantly since the beginning of this year.

The economy of the country has suffered from high inflation and in many cases the price of the commodities has risen over 50 percent.

However, most of the Iranian hardliner officials still deny that the Western sanctions have hit the economy and decline to back down on the nuclear program and harsh rhetoric against the United States and Israel.

 

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