TEHRAN, May 24 (UPI) -- Sanctions pressure on Iran grew out of a "tactless" foreign policy but economic action will target the wrong people, an Iranian opposition leader said.
Mir Hossein Mousavi, a leader of the opposition movement in Iran, said economic pressure on Iran from U.N. Security Council members would only hurt the Iranian people, London's Telegraph newspaper reports.
"In recent days, the issue of sanctions has been raised against our nation," said Mousavi. "Although we think this situation arose from tactless and adventurous foreign policies, we are against it because it will affect people's lives."
The five veto-wielding members of the Security Council last week agreed on a draft resolution to target Iran for its controversial nuclear program. Washington accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon, while Tehran insists the program is for civilian purposes.
Mousavi led an opposition movement in Iran after his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June 2009 elections.
Mousavi has turned his criticism of Ahmadinejad to economic issues, saying economic decline in Iran was like a foreign attack, the Telegraph reports.
"The pressure of this fall is on entrepreneurs and it will be followed by a heavy unemployment and poverty ... turning back toward the people is the only solution and then you will see that again there is a backdrop of hope," he said.
