Iran: Sounds from the War Drum

Iran's Deputy Agricultural Minister has stated that the Western sanctions has no genuine impact on her agricultural sector. This is more like saying the sanction are fruitless here. The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Iran's deputy agriculture minister as saying on Saturday: 'Iran's agricultural exports grew last year, with pistachio and saffron sales almost doubling, despite Western sanctions on trade with the country.'

Between March 21 and December 20, Iran's pistachio exports doubled to $587 million, making the nuts Iran's biggest agricultural export by value. Exports of saffron rose 87 percent to $213 million, Fars reported. Western nations continues to tighten sanctions on Iran to prevent banks from trading with the Islamic Republic in order to force her to halt her nuclear enrichment.

Iran's nuclear programme has attracted criticisms from Western nations largely centred on news coming out from Tel Aviv over the threat it posed to Israel; the only nuclear nation in the Middle East. Despite all the Western acts, Tehran continues to prove it is a rational international actor though domestically, the repression nauseates.