Islam Times - Iran criticizes Deutsche Welle for misquoting FM on sanctions

Islam Times - The Iranian Embassy in Berlin has complained to Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle for blatantly misquoting the remarks made by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi about the US-engineered economic sanctions that have been imposed on Iran.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the embassy criticized the Persian service of Deutsche Welle for misquoting the statements Salehi made in an interview with the German-language business newspaper Handelsblatt on February 6 and described the action as a fabrication and unprofessional and unethical media conduct.

Last Wednesday, the website of the Persian service of Deutsche Welle misquoted the Iranian foreign minister, claiming he said that the Iranian economy is under pressure from sanctions and no one can deny it.

The German network also alleged that Salehi said the Western pressure had significantly decreased Iran's foreign exchange reserves.

The illegal US-led sanctions on Iran have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Tehran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.