By Xinhua
Tehran : Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the high quality of Iran’s domestically-made defense equipment has rendered sanctions against the country “ineffective,” state-run Press TV channel reported on Monday.
Najjar made the comment Sunday at a conference on the quality of military equipment available to Iran’s armed forces, Press TV reported on its website.
“Our scientists and experts have been spectacularly successful in meeting the country’s defense requirements, proving that they are amply capable, knowledgeable, skillful, motivated and determined,” he said.
“They are able to remove any obstacles in their path and surpass other players in many areas,” the Iranian defense minister added.
As for U.S. President George W. Bush’s recent tour of the Middle East, Najjar said Washington’s efforts to push further penalties against the Islamic Republic suggested that imposing sanctions was a worn-out weapon against Iran.
During his tour of the Middle East earlier this month, Bush said that “Iran is today the world’s leading state sponsor of terror.”
The U.S. administration accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, al-Qaida and its affiliates as well as extremist Shiites in Iraq, defying the United Nations and destabilizing the region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini has rejected the accusations, saying “Bush’s statements are the signs of desperation, hopelessness and the sense of failure in his last months of presidency.”
The UN Security Council was due on Monday to discuss a proposed third round of sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.
So far, Iran has been slapped with two sets of resolutions, one in December 2006 and the other in March 2007, over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.