Iran dismisses Western sanction threats over nuclear program

TEHRAN, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A member of Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission dismissed on Tuesday the significance of Western sanction threats over its disputed nuclear program, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"The word sanction is neither worrisome nor alarming to the Iranian nation," Kazzem Jalali was quoted as saying.

He made the remarks on the sidelines of an open session of the parliament, referring to the British government's fresh sanctions on Iran's Bank Mellat and the Islamic Republic Ports and Shipping Organization, the report said.

"Unfortunately, such acts are instances of the double-standard policies sought and practiced by certain Western countries," Jalali told reporters, expressing surprise at London's hostile measures against Tehran while Western states have declared that their talks with the Islamic Republic in Geneva last week have proved useful.

The contradictory measures adopted by certain Western countries against Iran will backfire and cause them trouble, he added.

On Tuesday, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Moscow that sanctions against Iran are not inevitable and urged Iran to work with the international community.

Iran held talks with envoys from the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany (G5+1) in Geneva on Oct. 1, during which Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili promised that Tehran would soon open its newly disclosed uranium enrichment facility near the central city of Qom to UN inspectors.

Western powers suspect Iran of attempting to build nuclear weapons, but Tehran says its nuclear program is aimed at generating nuclear energy for civilian purposes.