In a response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s lengthening of sanctions upon Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday called the renewal of punitive measures “a childish idea and a big mistake,”. At the launch of a natural gas project in the southern Gulf port of Assaluyeh, Ahmadinejad stressed the momentum of Iranian advancement and the nation’s growing independence, Iranian news agencies say.

Because the U.S.-Iranian saga has been ongoing for quite some time now, speculation amongst U.S. and Israeli officials regarding Tehran’s nuclear intentions has been high. Though some politicians view the renewal of sanctions, initially implemented in 1995 by the Clinton administration, as a mere formality in a time of uncertainty, Obama also stressed that Iran’s attitudes “pose a continuing and unusual and extraordinary threat,”.

The sanctions forbid U.S. companies trading with or investing in Iran, part of the new policy of direct diplomacy initiated by the Obama administration. Increased communication since the days of former-president Bush’s policy of isolation, it seems, has done little to alleviate the tension between the UN Security Council and the Middle Eastern nuclear pioneers; Iran is now, sources say, in possession of enough low-enriched uranium to eventually produce an atomic bomb. Iran maintains that its nuclear intentions are solely energy related and is permitted under the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.

The UN Security Council and the U.S. have similarly issued demands that Iran halt its nuclear enrichment program, for fears of its intended uses; further sanctions have been threatened should the warnings not be heeded, a scenario that this latest dismissal brings closer. At the launch of the project, Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iran’s Press TV as responding by saying: “We don’t need anyone… We rely on our own abilities,”.

The sanctions put in place up to this point have dissuaded Western investors from approaching Iran: a nation which currently supplies the fourth-largest quantity of oil to the world, and sits atop the second largest reserves of natural gas, Russia possessing the largest. The embargo, however, has not stopped Asian companies acquiring interests in the area; economic analysts predict that Iran’s drive for autonomy may well be presented a hurdle with the latest oil-price trends.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month announced plans to invite iran to upcoming talks about Afghanistan: Tehran will consider the invitation, officials say.

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