The Telegraph: Iran will not be hurt by Oil Embargo!

Speaking to state television, Mr Ahmadinejad declared: "Once our trade with Europe was around 90 percent, but now it has reached to 10 percent, and we are NOT seeking this 10 percent. Experience has shown that the Iranian nation will NOT be hurt." "For the past 30 years the Americans have not been buying oil from us. Our central bank has no relations with you," he added. Mr Ahmadinejad however reiterated that the Islamic republic is ready to sit down with world powers for talks on its nuclear program. "They have this excuse that Iran is dodging negotiations, while this is not the case," he said. "Why should we run away from the negotiations?" The EU voted on Monday to ban new oil contracts, and to end existing contracts by July 1. Iran has threatened to to retaliate by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the main export route for supplies of about 17mbpd from the Middle East. On Sunday, the HMS Argyll was part of a flotilla of warships that entered the Strait. Meanwhile a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium. The report by the institute founded by nuclear expert David Albright offered a more temperate view of Iran's nuclear program than some of the heated rhetoric that has surfaced since the United States and its allies stepped up sanctions on Tehran.