Moscow, Tehran say new US sanctions on Iran unacceptable

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MOSCOW, Nov 22 (agencies): Russian Foreign Ministry says US on Tehran's financial systems "contradictory to international law; Iran Foreign Ministry calls sanctions futile, say they will have no effect. Russia's Foreign Ministry denounced new US sanctions against Iran on Tuesday as "unacceptable and contradictory to international law," Interfax news agency reported. The United States, worried by Tehran's nuclear program, named Iran on Monday as an area of "primary money laundering concern" in a step designed to dissuade non-US banks from dealing with it. It also blacklisted 11 entities suspected of aiding its nuclear programs and expanded sanctions to target companies that aid its oil and petrochemical industries. Iran dismissed new sanctions as more a propaganda exercise than something that will hit the economy. "Such measures are condemned by our people and will have no impact and be in vain," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference Tuesday. US President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States had identified "the entire Iranian banking sector - including the Central Bank of Iran - as a threat to governments or financial institutions that do business with Iranian banks." Obama said Washington would continue to look for ways to pressure Tehran over its nuclear program. "As long as Iran continues down this dangerous path, the United States will continue to find ways, both in concert with our partners and through our own actions to isolate and increase the pressure upon the Iranian regime," he said.