Iran will not back down on its nuclear program despite the problems caused by Western sanctions, including a dramatic slide in the value of its currency, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, October 2, Agence France Presse reported. “If somebody thinks they can pressure Iran, they are certainly wrong and they must correct their behavior,” he told a news conference in Tehran. Ahmadinejad’s comments came amid an accelerated slide in Iran’s currency, which has now lost more than 80 percent of its value compared with a year ago – with 17 percent of its value shed on Monday alone. The currency, the rial, slipped another four percent on Tuesday to close at 36,100 to the dollar. Ahmadinejad said the plunge was part of an economic “war” waged by the West on the Islamic republic and “a psychological war on the exchange market.”