Sanctions backfiring, Karroubi says

LONDON, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Economic pressure on Iran has given Tehran the excuse it needs to put pressure on supporters of democratic and economic reform, an opposition leader said.

The U.N. Security Council in June hit Iran with economic sanctions as punishment for its controversial nuclear program. Washington and the European Union followed suit in July with sanctions that target Iran's energy sector.

Mehdi Karroubi, a former presidential candidate and opposition leader, told London's Guardian newspaper that sanctions were backfiring.

"These sanctions have given an excuse to the Iranian government to suppress the opposition by blaming them for the unstable situation of the country," he told the newspaper.

Opposition leaders in Iran have continued to press the ruling elite in Tehran despite a massive crackdown on dissent following last year's contested presidential election.

Karroubi said that regardless of the effort to navigate the sanctions and the oppressive political culture in Iran, his movement remained defiant.

"People were out in the streets to inform the world of what is really happening inside Iran, and they succeeded in doing so," he said. "Now the world knows what is the problem in Iran."