TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today slammed Western sanctions on Iran’s oil sector as a “ridiculous” move that seeks to deprive the world of energy resources at a time when demand is swelling.

“It’s very funny. They (the West) use oil as a political weapon against a country that is an oil producer itself,” Ahmadinejad said at the inauguration of a new fuel-making unit at a Tehran oil refinery. “This is among the most ridiculous behaviors.”

Iran’s leaders have repeatedly insisted the country can withstand the international sanctions imposed in efforts to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. But the rash of defensive comments by Ahmadinejad and others — including warnings against local media reports on the sanctions fallout — suggest deepening worries about a sustained drop in vital oil revenue.

The European Union — which once accounted for around 18 percent of Iran’s oil exports — stopped all contracts with Tehran on July 1. Meanwhile, the U.S. is pressuring Iran’s key Asian oil customers such as India and South Korea to look to the Gulf and other suppliers.

“The ones that need oil use what they need as a tool to pressure (others),” Ahmadinejad said, calling it “political warfare.”

Iran relies on oil for some 80 percent of its foreign revenue.

“It takes a lot of insolence to be like that,” he added in the speech broadcast on state TV. Ahmadinejad also urged for foreign investment in Iran’s oil and petrochemical industries, but many companies remain wary of running afoul with Washington over sanctions.