TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's president says the new EU embargo on Iranian oil is "the strongest" yet imposed on the country.

The comments Tuesday are Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first on the 27-member bloc's ban on the purchase of Iranian oil since the measures took effect Sunday.

State TV also quoted Ahmadinejad as saying Iran should use the ban "as an opportunity to wean the country's budget off its dependence on oil revenues."

Iran relies on oil exports for about 80 percent of its foreign revenues.

The EU sanctions are the latest of several rounds of Western measures meant to pressure Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

The U.S. and its allies suspect Iran aims to develop atomic weapons.

Iran insists its program is solely for peaceful purposes, such as energy and producing medical isotopes.