Mahmoud Short RoundAhmadinejad said on Sunday, a day after U.S. leader Barack
We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to usObama signed into law extra measures against the institution.
"The central bank is the backbone of dealing with the enemies' pressure and it must with strength and self-confidence have the solidity to eliminate all of the enemies' plots," he told an annual assembly of the bank's bigwigs, according to a statement on the presidency website.
"We should protect the people and the nation against the enemies' plots so people are not pressured," he was quoted as saying.
Ahmadinejad added that "currently there is no particular problem in the economic sector," discounting the effects of previous sanctions.
The new U.S. sanctions seek to further squeeze Iran's crucial oil revenues, most of which are processed by the central bank.
Under the measures, foreign firms will have to choose between doing business with the Islamic republic or the economically mighty United States.
The sanctions, meant to punish Iran for its nuclear program, were contained in a mammoth $662 billion U.S. defense bill. Obama signed them into law despite reservations they would ties his hands on setting foreign policy.
Iranian leaders and military officials have warned that such sanctions could push them to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf.
Twenty percent of the world's oil passes through the strait, making it the "most important choke point" globally, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.