Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyeb-Nia says unilateral sanctions against Tehran’s oil and financial sectors have posed a serious challenge to world’s fragile economy.

“Unilateral economic sanctions imposed against Iran, particularly in oil and gas fields, have posed a serious challenge to world’s fragile economy,” Tayyeb-Nia said Saturday at the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington in the US.

While the sanctions against Iran have created instability and lack of transparency in markets, the embargoes have also left a narrow possibility for equal and general access to the essential products, the minister added.

The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and European Union using the claim as an excuse to impose illegal sanctions against Tehran.

Iran categorically rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

HK