WASHINGTON (AFP) - Despite Western nations tightening the screws on Iran, a top aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says increasingly tough sanctions have failed. On the eve of fresh negotiations with Western powers tentatively set for December 5, Ahmadinejad confidant Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said it was time for them to stop fooling themselves over the effectiveness of measures designed to pressure Iran into abandoning its uranium enrichment program. Banning Iranian ships from European ports, a fuel blockade against Iran Air, growing financial restrictions and other punitive measures have had no noticeable effect, he added in an interview with The Washington Post conducted Monday and published Wednesday. The delay in the negotiations has been a good opportunity for the other side to realize the effects of its political decisions. He also claimed the failure of sanctions had prompted the West to relaunch the long-stalled talks, a direct contradiction of the US position. Iran is under four sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, which is at the centre of fears about Tehrans atomic ambitions. It has also faced military threats and alleged technological attacks on its controversial nuclear program. Samareh Hashemis comments came as the UN atomic watchdog found Tuesday that Iran was still uncooperative after nearly eight years of attempting to determine if its nuclear program is military or, as Tehran insists, peaceful in its objectives. The International Atomic Energy Agencys restricted report demands full access to Irans nuclear facilities, equipment and related documents, and said its uranium enrichment activities inexplicably came to a halt at least one day earlier this month, amid rumors it encountered technical problems. If Western powers do not respond to Irans request to broaden discussions beyond its nuclear program to also discuss Israels alleged nuclear weapons stockpile and declare they are committed to nuclear disarmament, Iran would be forced to take a harder position, Samareh Hashemi said. It would mean they have not chosen the path of friendship, he added. Not answering these questions will mean they have decided not to commit to nuclear disarmament and support the Zionist regime being armed with nuclear weapons. But the 52-year-old foreign policy expert also said Iranian negotiators will consider proposed changes to a nuclear fuel swap proposal that failed at the talks last year. It is not like we dont listen to new proposals, he said, adding that no deal would stop Iran from producing higher-enriched uranium, up to 19.75 percent, to run its medical reactor. Meanwhile, the United States Tuesday criticised Iran for its continued failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, after a new report by the agency said Iran was still refusing to halt uranium enrichment. Were obviously studying the report, but the key point is that it underscores Irans continued failure to comply with its international nuclear obligations and also a sustained lack of cooperation with the IAEA, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner. The IAEAs restricted report, a copy of which was obtained in Vienna by AFP, said Iran was still uncooperative after nearly eight years of attempting to determine if its nuclear program is military or, as Tehran insists, peaceful in its objectives. The report demands full access to Irans nuclear facilities, equipment and related documents, and said its uranium enrichment activities inexplicably came to a halt at least one day earlier this month, amid rumors it encountered technical problems.