Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said here Sunday that Iran has been successful in the face of western sanctions.

Khamenei said the Islamic republic has achieved "eye-catching successes" in its confrontation with western powers and their economic and propaganda campaigns, the local satellite Press TV reported on Sunday.

"Countering the sanctions and progress in nuclear (technology) is part of these accomplishments," Khamenei was quote as saying in a meeting with members of the Islamic society of Iranian students in Europe.

This triumphant trend will not subside and will continue apace in the future, he added.

"The enemy is repeatedly suffering defeats and setbacks, despite its all-out security and political measures against the Islamic Republic," Khamenei reiterated.

Khamenei made the remarks after U.S. President Barack Obama signed on Saturday the bill on banking sanctions against Iran.

Obama signed on Saturday a wide-ranging defense funding bill in Honolulu, Hawaii, calling for new sanctions against financial institutions doing business with Iran's state banking institutions.

The bill, approved by U.S. Congress last week, aims at reducing Tehran's oil revenues but gives the U.S. president powers to waive penalties as required.

Obama singed the bill into law although he has "serious reservations" about provisions regarding counter-terrorism efforts, including clauses that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

"The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it," Obama said in a prepared statement accompanying his signature in Hawaii, where he is having a family holiday.

According to an amendment contained in the sweeping bill, foreign financial institutions doing business with Iran's central bank are banned from opening or maintaining correspondent operations in the U.S..

The ban only applies to foreign central banks for transactions that involve the sale or purchase of petroleum or petroleum products. The penalties do not go into effect for six months, according to the bill.

However, Obama can waive the penalties for national security reasons. If the country with jurisdiction over the foreign financial institution has significantly reduced its purchases oil from Iran, Obama can also waive the measures, the bill stipulates.

U.S. officials said Washington was engaging with its foreign partners to ensure the sanctions can work without harming global energy markets.

They also noted that the bill does not change U.S. strategy for engaging with Iran. Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on Iran without disrupting interests of the U.S. and its allies.

On Sunday, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that its scientists and researchers succeeded in producing and testing the first sample of nuclear fuel rod.

The nuclear fuel rod is made of natural uranium, the announcement said.

After all the preliminary tests, including the physical and dimensional tests, were conducted successfully, the nuclear fuel rod was fed into the core of Tehran research reactor to further study the performance of the produced sample.

The performability of the sample in the long run will be tested in the core of the research reactor by exposing it to radiations, said the announcement.

Iran said the Tehran research reactor uses the nuclear fuel bar to produce medicines for cancer treatments.

A senior Iranian military commander said Saturday that other countries will not join the United States in imposing sanctions on Iran's oil sector.

Deputy head of Iran's Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri said other counties will not collaborate with Washington in imposing sanctions on Iran's oil industry as they are aware of the "heavy detriments and consequences" of the move.

Iran's oil ban will take toll on world and the move will inflict heavy losses on them, Jazayeri was quoted as saying.

Recently, Iran's top officials threatened to seal off the important oil passageway of Strait of Hormuz.

The Pentagon also warned Iran against any attempt to block the strait, saying that interference with the transit or passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz will not be tolerated.

Following an International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran' s nuclear program in November, the U.S., Britain, Canada and certain western countries announced new sanctions against Iran and said that they were considering sanctions against Iran's Central Bank and Iran's crude exports.