TEHRAN – The new U.S. sanctions on Iran, which targeted a number of Iranian banks, are intended to prevent Iran from boosting its exports, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said on Sunday.

“A few days ago, they once again imposed sanctions on our banks, but we did not take them into account, and no one in the Ministry of Defense even mentioned these sanctions, because sanctions have become a natural thing for us. The enemies impose sanctions because they are afraid of our exports,” the defense minister said.

Hatami was responding to the recent sanctions that the U.S. Treasury Department imposed on eighteen Iranian banks in an effort to isolate the Iranian economy from the global financial system.

He also underlined that “our evil enemies should know that our nation will never surrender”, adding, “History has shown us that surrendering to enemies who think only of their own interests will result in nothing other than humiliation.”

“We are performing jihad against enmity and economic warfare, and this is the path we have taken for 40 years and we have seen that at the end of this path, the horizon is clear,” Hatami noted.

 SM/PA