Iran will circumvent international sanctions aimed at halting its controversial nuclear programme, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Tuesday.

“The enemies of the nation seek to frustrate the people with economic pressures so the people blame the government for them and ties are cut between the government and the people,” Khamenei said.

“But the nation and officials will undoubtedly circumvent the sanctions and render them ineffective just as (they have) in the past three decades,” state media quoted him as saying in a speech.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all key policy issues, called for the creation of a “really resistant economy” in the face of international pressure, state television said.

Iran’s economy is heavily dependent on oil revenues.

On June 9, the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions over Iran’s controversial programme of uranium enrichment, which many Western states believe may be a covert bid to make a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

The United States and European Union have since unilaterally imposed even tougher measures, which contain provisions to penalise Tehran’s trading partners.

source: AFP