Ahmadinejad: Iranians must remain united against enemies

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the Iranian nation to remain united against western sanctions."We cannot expect any fair approach by the enemies (of Iran), because they have always had deep enmity with the Iranian people," Ahmadinejad said addressing people in the city of Islamshahr, South of Tehran. "But what the people should do now is to stay united and not get intimidated in a bid to defuse all enemies' plots," the president added. Ahmadinejad was referring to fresh sanctions by the United States, Britain, France and Canada on Iran's banking, petrochemical and oil sectors. Ahmadinejad said that, as far as the US was concerned, there have been no diplomatic ties with Washington for the last 32 years. Accordingly, there have been no banking ties either. Additionally, the Iranian Central Bank said that the British decision to cut all ties with Iranian banks would have no effect on the country's economy, as Iran had cut its relations with the British central bank a long time ago. Within the same context, Iran's Oil Ministry said that the decision by France to stop importing oil from Iran was irrelevant, as there is no Iranian oil exported to France. Ahmadinejad and other Iranian top officials have stressed that suggestions of sanctions, and even military threats, will not intimidate the country. More specifically, they say, it will not force Iran to stop its nuclear program. Following military threats from Israel, Iran's Basij (voluntary) forces and students have held several gatherings in recent days to promise a harsh reply to any military attacks on Iranian nuclear sites.