Ahmadinejad calls sanctions a battle against Iran

TEHRAN, Iran -- The West has begun a "heavy battle" with Iran by tightening sanctions over Tehran's disputed nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said yesterday in his first major speech since a European Union oil embargo took effect this month.

Speaking at a conference in comments to be broadcast nationwide, Ahmadinejad said his government was doing all it can to sidestep a growing list of international sanctions, imposed over Iran's refusal to halt its uranium enrichment activities.

"A heavy battle has begun by . . . enemies against the Iranian nation," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. "A big part of the government is working round the clock, working every moment . . . to stand up to them," he added. "The government will not retreat one iota from their rights, values and principles against weakening materialistic powers," he said.

The remarks come two weeks after a total oil embargo imposed by the European Union and banking sanctions by the United States went into effect over the uranium enrichment, which Iran says is for peaceful purposes only but which the West says is aimed at developing weapons technology.

The latest EU sanctions on Iran's vital oil industry came into effect July 1, three days after the United States tightened sanctions that prohibit international banks from completing oil transactions with Iranian banks, further complicating Iran's ability to conduct trade abroad.

Iran's parliament speaker has acknowledged that 20 percent of Iran's economic problems are due to sanctions, a rare public acknowledgment by a top official that sanctions are biting.