In a recent TV and radio interview, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner provoked anger in Iran when he said if the Republic built an atomic bomb then "We must prepare ourselves for the worst," adding that "The worst means war," but later said his comments had been misinterpreted by journalists.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in the letter circulated by Iranian news agency ISNA: "The country's 29 years of experience indicates that imposing such sanctions only encourages us to attain self-sufficiency and make scientific and technological progress."
"Iran's great achievements in nuclear field were made due to Washington's one-sided sanctions along with undeclared sanctions imposed by the European countries," Mottaki said adding that "Imposing more economic sanctions or other threats will not discourage our nation to quit their path."
Iran, suspected by the U.S. and the West of a covert nuclear weapons program, has denied any intentions of developing nuclear arms, saying its program is transparent and civilian-oriented. The country recently intensified its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved on September 25 a bill toughening sanctions against Iran, and banning the White House from any new nuclear cooperation with Russia and other countries cooperating with the Islamic Republic in the nuclear sphere.
The draft law also envisions that the largest branch of the country's military, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), could be put on the list of terrorist organizations.
