Confronted by mounting U.S. and U.N. pressure, Iran has been steadily shifting its trade from West to East and, with the benefit of record high oil prices, is likely to be able to withstand the new U.S. sanctions, according to U.S., European and Iranian analysts.
Washington's latest sanctions on Iran up the pressure on America's European allies to follow suit and tighten the screws on the Islamic state or see it attacked, analysts say.
Iran has access to evidence of U.S. support for terrorist groups in the Middle East, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying on Sunday.
UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday he had no evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons and accused US leaders of adding "fuel to the fire" with recent bellicose rhetoric.
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday he had no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons and expressed concern that escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring disaster.
Mohamad ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged the Bush administration Sunday to soften its rhetoric against Iran while maintaining diplomatic pressure on it to halt the nuclear enrichment that could lead to the production of a nuclear weapon.
Confronted by mounting U.S. and U.N. pressure, Iran has been shifting its trade from West to East and, with the benefit of record high oil prices, is likely to be able to withstand new U.S. sanctions, according to analysts.
Chief UN atomic watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday he had no evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons and accused US leaders of adding "fuel to the fire" with recent bellicose rhetoric.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan warned on Sunday that Turkey could launch an attack on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq but failed to win the support of neighbouring Iran for a military strike.
Pro-reform Iranian lawmakers criticized the president on Sunday for replacing Iran's chief negotiator in an escalating nuclear row with the West, saying it was not in the national interest, news agencies reported.