Iran can overcome problems caused by "barbaric" economic sanctions that Western states have imposed over its nuclear programme, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday.

"These sanctions are barbaric. This is a war against a nation... But the Iranian nation will defeat them," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast on state television.

The all-powerful leader said the sanctions had created "problems" for the country, and that "some mismanagement" of the draconian measures was adding to those problems. He did not elaborate.

Iran's currency, the rial, has lost 40 percent of its value against major currencies in the past week, with the central bank unable to support the rial on the open market due to a lack of foreign cash.