Iran Can Make US Sanctions Ineffective By Using Economic, Natural Resources - Ahmadinejad

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th June, 2021) Iran can make sanctions imposed on it ineffective by utilizing its human, economic and natural resources, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Sputnik.

"Iran is a large country with enormous human, economic and natural resources. If we use them, sanctions will become an ineffective tool, the situation will change," Ahmadinejad said.

Back in 2012, US President Barack Obama issued sanctions targeting Iranian financial institutions designed to effectively choke off the sale of Iranian oil.

Obama also lifted those sanctions in 2016 after Iran signed a nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, pledging not to make atomic weapons.

Obama's successor Donald Trump, however, canceled that nuclear deal in 2018 and put new, intensified sanctions on Iran. President Joe Biden, after entering office in January this year, had allowed negotiations to begin on a fresh nuclear deal with Iran. The Biden administration is also not enforcing sanctions against Iran as strenuously as the Trump administration.