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The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed a draft of new sanctions last week after months of pressure from the United States to punish Iran for nuclear activities that Washington says are aimed at making a bomb.

"In recent days, the issue of sanctions has been raised against our nation. Although we think this situation arose from tactless and adventurous foreign policies, we are against it because it will affect people's lives," Mr Mousavi said.

Mr Mousavi, who lost to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in last June's presidential election, said Iran was facing an economic crisis whose full impact has yet to be felt.

A 0.5 percentage point fall in GDP growth last year to 1.8 per cent – according to IMF figures – was "like undergoing a massive attack by foreign enemies", Mr Mousavi said.

"The pressure of this fall is on entrepreneurs and it will be followed by a heavy unemployment and poverty ... turning back towards the people is the only solution and then you will see that again there is a backdrop of hope," he said.

Iran has threatened to abandon the atomic fuel swap plan brokered by Turkey and Brazil if the UN imposes new sanctions. The Brazilian, Iranian and Turkish leaders announce the new agreement last week under which Iran will send 1,200kg of its enrich uranium stocks to Turkey in exchange for fuel rods for a medical research reactor in Tehran.

But the permanent members of the UN Security Council brushed off the d... >>>