Iran blames U.S. "hegemony" for financial crisis

ASTANA (Reuters) - Iran blamed the United States on Thursday for triggering global financial meltdown, saying the "hegemonic" nature of the U.S. economy affected other economies. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Kazakhstan, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said it was time to set up a "fair international financial system" to curb the impact of the U.S. economy on world finances.

"The economic crisis in America had an immediate impact on the economies of other countries," said Mottaki.

"We believe that this (crisis) was caused by moves to impose one hegemonic economy on all the other economies."

Iran is at loggerheads with the United States and other Western nations over its nuclear program which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes but which the West fears is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

OPEC-member Iran says it would survive the global crisis better than others because its economy had grown more independent since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

But economists disagree, saying Iran cannot stay immune from a possible world economic downturn because of its reliance on oil revenues to fund its budget.

"Unfortunately only one economy in the world continues to receive revenue even when other parts of the world are suffering from the crisis," Mottaki said, referring to the United States.

"We believe the only way out of this is to set up a fair international financial system."

(Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Philippa Fletcher)