KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today reiterated that sanctions hurt a lot of people, including the nation which is in trade with the affected country.

Stressing that he does not believe in sanctions, the Prime Minister urged the parties involved to settle their problems without creating a fight.

"If you apply sanctions, you will hurt a lot of people. Not only Iran…and when you apply sanctions against Iran, Malaysia also suffers because we lose our market.

"So people should negotiate and settle problems around the table, not fight each other and apply sanctions,” he told reporters after attending Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd’s (Bank Rakyat) Integrity Forum 2020 here today.

Dr Mahathir was responding to questions on the escalating tensions between the United States (US) and Iran following the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian military commander in the US airstrike of January 3. In what appeared to be a retaliatory act for the American attack which killed Qassem, Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi bases that hold US troops.

According to news reports, the US administration on Friday (January 10) imposed new sanctions on Iran following attacks on the US and allied troops in Iraq earlier in the week.

The latest round of penalties by the US is set to target multiple sectors of Iran’s economy, including construction, manufacturing, textiles and mining, and eight senior Iranian officials, some of whom were already under sanction. — Bernama