Iranian parliament says 20 percent of Iran's economic woes are the result of the West's stepped up sanctions.

Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA quoted parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani as saying that harsh economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and the EU have dealt a serious blow to the Iranian economy.

This is the first time an Iranian official has quantified the effect of Western sanctions on Iran.

Experts assume the sanctions have raised Iran’s import costs by somewhere between 20 and 30 percent.