Tehran on Wednesday indicated that any possible sanctions against it could derail the ongoing nuclear talks with the world powers, according to an Iranian spokesperson.
Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham in a weekly briefing said, "Any new sanctions means to stop the ongoing talks and this is very obvious. In our eyes, using the outdated tool of sanction will not be helpful."
Afkham stressed that Iran's return to negotiations was not due to the resultant pressure of sanctions as some U.S. officials think. She added that her country's new budget was not dependent on oil revenues and Iran's economic and development programs continued to progress, notwithstanding the sanctions imposed by the west.
The Iranian official made it clear that Iran has been making efforts to move away from oil revenue to a large extent, with sanctions on the country's energy section and plummeting oil prices in the international market.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earlier this week, claimed Iran to have reduced its reliance on oil revenues with only one third of the government revenue targeted from oil sales in the coming budget for next year, beginning March 21. He stressed that his country has already made plans to compensate for the loss of oil revenues, both on account of sanctions as well plunging prices.
Earlier this week, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power cautioned that any further sanctions on Tehran could jeopardize the negotiation process and probably end it. Power said, "imposing new sanctions will almost certainly end a negotiations process that has not only frozen the advance of Iran's nuclear program, but that could lead us to an understanding that would give us confidence in its exclusively peaceful nature."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif have been engaged in two rounds of talks on Tehran's nuclear program, which was described by Washington as substantive.
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