'Iran sanctions will fizzle'

Namik Kemal Zeybek, the leader of Turkey's Democratic Party (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222741.html

A senior Turkish politician says that the sanctions imposed on Iran by the West will not be effective because the country has a self-sufficient economic system, Press TV reports.

Namik Kemal Zeybek, the leader of Turkey's Democratic Party, told Press TV's correspondent in Ankara that the main reason behind the sanctions on Iran is the fact that the Islamic Republic resists “global capitalism.”

“After [Iran's] Islamic Revolution, Iran spent its resources on its government and its people and did not allow its oil to be exploited, and this is its sole crime, of course from the West's point of view. The second and the main issue is that Iran has proven that it can be a resistance against imperialism and global capitalism... This fact is behind all the pressure on Iran,” Zeybek stated.

“Such sanctions have always been imposed. Iran's economic system has developed in a self-sufficient way, and this is why such sanctions will not be effective,” the Turkish politician added.

“The government that was established after the Islamic Revolution has a powerful structure. Iran is a very powerful country,” he said in conclusion.

Foreign ministers of the European Union reached an agreement on Monday to impose sanctions on Iran's oil imports and freeze the assets of the Central Bank of Iran within the EU.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told reporters that the sanctions are meant to pressure Iran to return to the talks over its nuclear program.

The EU has also imposed a ban on the sale of gold, diamonds, and other precious metals to Iran.

Tehran has warned that the embargo will have negative consequences, such as an increase in oil prices.