Europe Main Loser of US-Led Sanctions against Russia

(FNA)- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Hassan Firouzabadi blasted the western sanctions against Russia, and said the European countries are the main losers of the US-led embargos.

"The Europeans are fooled by the US both in the Ukraine issue and in economic crisis," Firouzabadi said on Friday.

Warning that imperialism and capitalism always victimize their followers and proteges for their interests, he said, "The main loser of the US and European sanctions against the Russians is Europe."

Firouzabadi called on anti-capitalist European elites, thinkers and media to save Europe from the US pawns through democratic efforts.

In April, the United States imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, against 7 Russian individuals and 17 Russian companies linked to President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

Following the announcement of sanctions, US-based payment system MasterCard suspended its services to two Russian banks, targeted SMP and Investcapitalbank. This brings the number of Russian banks that the system has stopped working with to four. In March, MasterCard suspended work with Sobinbank and Bank Rossiya, but then resumed services shortly. International payment systems Visa and MasterCard already halted services with both SMP and Investcapitalbank in March.

No publicly-listed Russian companies were included on the new sanction list, but Obama said that the US and its allies would keep broader sanctions "in reserve" in the event of further escalation on the ground in Ukraine. Before, US politicians had called for sanctions against Russia's finance and energy sectors.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that talking in the language of sanctions was "inappropriate and counterproductive" and warned its Western partners about the "boomerang effect" that sanctions would have.