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EU puts more pressure on Tehran: set of sanctions approved
Published: 26 July, 2010, 15:31
Edited: 29 July, 2010, 07:16
TAGS: Conflict, Meeting, Military, Nuclear, EU, Law, Iran
The pressure on Tehran is growing as the EU foreign ministers have formally approved their toughest ever package of economic sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment program.
The fresh sanctions that target the Islamic Republic’s foreign trade, financial and the energy sectors will come into force on July 27, writes RIA Novosti, citing a diplomatic source close to the Council of the EU.
Among the EU restrictions is a ban on investment in Iran’s oil and gas industries – vital for the country’s economy. That includes a freeze on the transfer of equipment and technology. In addition, it is expected that new visa restrictions will be introduced and a list of regime insiders who are banned from entering the EU will be extended and that bank accounts belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps will be frozen.
Belgian Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said he sincerely believes that the EU stance on Iran is well balanced.
“It is a common position aimed at persuading Iran to return to the bargaining table. At the same time, if dialogue proves to be impossible, sanctions are necessary,” he said, writes Itar-Tass.
Earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi stated that Iran would not decrease its oil production despite EU sanctions, wrote the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Talking to the agency, he said that the country is used to being sanctioned since the 1979 Revolution and therefore does not see a problem in facing them. He added that mainly it is Iranian companies rather than European who are involved in developing Iranian oil and gas industries.
The EU’s latest move is aimed at trying to convince Tehran to halt its uranium enrichment program – which is feared to be aimed at creating weapons – and come back to the negotiating table. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is purely peaceful.
Speaking on Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that Iran is always open for dialogue, but warned the EU against imposing new sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“Should you make any decisions against Iran, including ship inspections, you will see the Iranian nation's immediate response. Everybody knows that the Iranian nation's response will cause [the enemy to] rue the day,” Iranian Press TV quotes him as saying.
Accusing the US of leading a scenario against Tehran, he said that any nation who joins Washington would be regarded an enemy, MehrNews wrote.
“War is not necessary to confront the US and its allies. Iran’s culture, policy, and wisdom will bring them down,” he is quoted as saying. And if any country attacks Iran, “the Iranian nation will cut off its arm,” Ahmadinejad said.
He also pointed to Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency for years “so that all could observe Iran's peaceful activities and now we are certain of their animosity.”
President Dmitry Medvedev has also come under fire from the Iranian leader. Ahmadinejad referred to the Russian leader’s recent remarks at a meeting with Russian ambassadors and permanent representatives, where he said that Iran “is getting closer to possessing the potential that in principle can be used to create a nuclear weapon.”
“We regret that Medvedev has become the mouthpiece for the plans of Iran's enemies,” was Ahmadinejad’s comment.
Russia initially opposed sanctions against Iran and insisted the dispute should be solved through dialogue. However, on June 9, along with other members of the UN Security Council, it approved the new set of sanctions against the republic. That followed Tehran’s failing to prove its program has no military motives.
“We should now be patient and resume the dialogue with Tehran as soon as possible,” Medvedev said at his meeting with diplomats in June. “That is, we believe, the key goal of the new UN Security Council resolution on Iran”.
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Zippy July 27, 2010, 14:58 "This is a great opportunity for Iran to take control of its oil and gas industry into her hands." They could start by building some oil refining capacity before building nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons. Despite their huge crude oil output, Iran is in the absurd position of having to import all their petroleum fuel requirements from their neighbours, at some considerable cost simply because they have no oil refineries. This situation has arisen during the decades in which the Iranian government have had full control over their petrochemical industries.
@starlight July 27, 2010, 14:14 "The EU does not support sanctions against Iran because of an improbable missile attack against them from Iranian soil. Iranian missiles do not have the capability of hitting EU countries." This is incorrect: the Iranian Shahab-3 missile can hit all of Cyprus, some Greek islands and parts of Bulgaria and Romania. These missiles are a derivative of a North Korean missile and about 300 are believed to be deployed within Iran.
@ JG Yes, you are correct, the Shahab 3 can reach Cypress, the periphery of Greece, Bulgaria and Romania. As far as I understand, its accuracy may not be 100% on the periphery of its trajectile. However, the EU is not in the business of war only trade. The fact that EU countries have opted out to be in NATO, an US war machine, could only incur the wrath of Iran if any one of the EU countries decided to attack Iran, except if the EU went as a package together with the US to do so then they must accept the consequences. They are not stupid enough to do so. It is the US and Israel who feel threatened by these missiles. The US because their troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are in range. Israel, because they have met a foe that can defend themselves and do incredible damage to their nuclear facilities in the Negev, their stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons not withstanding their civilian structures. Iran has no intention of attacking anyone. It is the US and Israel that are doing the threatening, not Iran. They fear Iran now not over nuclear weapon, which they do not possess, but their advanced technology. Your statement to Zippy is not fully correct. Iran does produce about 60% of its petroleum and within 2 to 3 years 100%. Most petroleum produced by oil exporting countries is exported, and some is imported. That is normal trade practice for any commodity that is produced by most countries. That is simple business.