Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brushed off as useless on Thursday a new round of economic sanctions by the European Union and said his country was ready to resume nuclear talks with six world powers, the official news agency IRNA reported.
"The sanctions will be futile and history has so far shown that the Iranian nation has always mastered such hurdles," Ahmadinejad said in a speech in the south-eastern city of Rafsanjan.
"Who says Iran does not want to resume the negotiations? It is you (the E.U.) who is after pretexts not to hold the (nuclear) talks."
Ahmadinejad appeared to downplay the impact of the latest EU sanctions, which include a ban on oil imports from Iran, saying that trade with the 27-member bloc made up only $23 billion of the country's $200 billion annual trade volume.
"Aren't you ashamed to get together and make such statements. Where do you think you can get with these steps?" Ahmadinejad said.
"They are saying they do not want to harm the Iranian people but the steps they take and the language they use are all against the people," he added.
Iran wants to resume negotiations with six world powers -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany -- who want it to address concerns over its nuclear programme, which the West suspects has a military dimension. It has rejected demands that it halt uranium enrichment and denies it is seeking a nuclear bomb.
The sides failed to make progress in talks held in Istanbul last year. Western officials accused Iran of footdragging during the talks to buy more time to pursue its nuclear activities while avoiding sanctions.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the nuclear issue during a phone call on Thursday and urged Iran to resume the talks. Netanyahu welcomed the new EU sanctions.
The sanctions, approved by the EU this month, as well as similar measures taken by the United States to force Iran to curb its nuclear activities, are believed to have already had an impact on the Iranian economy, with the national currency, the rial, falling drastically in recent days.
Ahmadinejad was forced Wednesday to accept plans by the central bank to increase bank interest rates from 12 to 21 percent.
The move prompted the rial to appreciated by 17 percent compared with Monday's rate.
