Iran works to bypass sanctions, Ahmadinejad says before UN trip

Bloomberg: Iran is working to by-pass sanctions that amount to a “full-scale, hidden psychological war” against the Islamic republic, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. Bloomberg

By Yeganeh Salehi

Iran is working to by-pass sanctions that amount to a “full-scale, hidden psychological war” against the Islamic republic, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.

The restrictions have hurt the country’s economy, and there are “problems in selling oil, there are some problems in transferring money,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview on state television before traveling to the United Nations in New York to attend the General Assembly meeting.

“We have oil and the world needs it,” Ahmadinejad said. He said his government is working on ways around the sanctions, without giving details. Iran’s oil output dropped to 2.75 million barrels a day in August from 3.1 million the previous month, according to Bloomberg data.

The measures imposed by the U.S., UN and European Union, including an oil embargo and banking curbs, are aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. and Israel have expressed concern that Iran may be building nuclear weapons, and warned that they will consider military action to prevent that. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes.