Iran: Romney 'saber rattling' as US suffers recession

Islamic Republic's defense minister comments on statements made by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney during Israel visit; says American candidates attempting to divert public from domestic issues

Dudi Cohen|Published: 08.02.12 , 15:39

Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi reacted to statements made by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney against Iran and said they were 'saber rattling' aimed at diverting the US public opinion from ‘the grave’ domestic issues, Iran's PressTV reported.

At the same time the minister chose to ignore the fact that the US government has also increased sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

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Earlier this week, during his visit to Israel, Romney said the United States has "a solemn duty and a moral imperative" to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability. “

Adding, "Make no mistake, the ayatollahs in Iran are testing our moral defenses. They want to know who will object and who will look the other way. We will not look away nor will our country ever look away from our passion and commitment to Israel."

The Iranian defense minister criticized Romney's statements and said: "The economic issue is one of the (most) important factors in the American people’s decisions to vote, while none of the US presidential candidates, neither Democratic nor Republican, have presented a solution yet to break the economic stalemate they have reached," he added.

The United States-led sanctions against Iran are costing it some $133 million a day in lost oil sales – without raising global crude prices, the Bloomberg agency reported Thursday.

The measure is expected to cost the Islamic Republic some $48 billion in annualized revenue – some 10% of the country's economy.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the US House of Representatives voted to slap new, punishing sanctions on Iran. The vote was carried 421-6. The Senate backed the decision.

The bill expands the financial penalties imposed on Tehran, while adding new sanctions on the energy and shipping sectors. Lawmakers said that denying oil income to Tehran will force it to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program.