EU leaders sanction Iranian oil and gas sector
Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 10:18AM (Reuters) - European Union leaders agreed tighter sanctions against Iran on Thursday, including measures to block investment in the oil and gas sector and curtail refining and natural gas capability.
The measures go substantially beyond the sanctions the United Nations agreed on June 10 and are designed to pressure Tehran to return to talks over an uranium enrichment programme Western powers believe is designed to produce nuclear weapons.
The steps, which could come into force within weeks, will focus on trade, including dual-use items, banking and insurance, Iran's transport sector, including shipping and air cargo, and key sectors of the gas and oil industry.
The energy sector sanctions will prohibit "new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies, equipment and services related to these areas, in particular related to refining, liquefaction and Liquefied Natural Gas technology," the heads of state and government said in their conclusions.
The measures go beyond what some diplomats had foreseen and are likely to put strong financial pressure on Iran, which is the world's fifth largest crude oil exporter but has little refining capability.
"The European Council deeply regrets that Iran has not taken the many opportunities which have been offered to it to remove the concerns of the international community over the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme," the EU leaders said.
"Under these circumstances, new restrictive measures have become inevitable."
Diplomats said some EU states, notably Germany, which has large investments in Iran's oil and gas sector, had concerns about strengthening the sanctions, but in the event all EU member states moved quickly behind a strongly worded statement.
Iran denies its nuclear programme is aimed at producing weapons, saying it is for energy and other peaceful purposes.
The EU steps coincide with efforts by the U.S. Congress to draw up its own set of additional measures against Iran designed to add bite to last week's U.N. sanctions package, parts of which were watered down by Russian and Chinese opposition.
The political impact of the U.N. steps was also undermined by Turkish and Brazilian votes against the package.
Russia criticized the EU for planning sanctions on top of the U.N. measures.
"We are extremely disappointed that neither the United States nor the European Union is heeding our calls to refrain from such steps," Russian news agencies quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying.
The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday blacklisted another state-controlled Iranian bank and targeted companies that is says are fronts for Iran's state shipping company IRISL as it looked to coordinate the tighter sanctions net with the EU.
It also took separate steps to squeeze Iran's energy sector by identifying 20 petroleum and petrochemical companies as being under Iranian government control -- which puts them off limits to U.S. businesses under a general trade embargo.
NOTICE - All Rights Reserved Except as Stipulated Below. PHOTOS MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM. Our reporters and journalists break or report stories and their sources and information are protected by the doctrine of free press as expressed in the First Ammendment, Reporters Privilege Statutes, and also the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.This article if a feature or opinion piece is the opinion of the author or reports the news and opinions of others and is NOT INTENDED TO OFFER ADVICE. FOR OPINION STORIES: This story/article/ feature may be an opinion piece — and should be treated accordingly — or reporting on the opinions of others, and should never be considered as a sole source of information or as a suggestion, instruction or prescription. FOR CRIME STORIES: always read the word "allegedly" in any story mentioning "suspects" or "persons of interest". FOR BUSINESSS AND MONEY STORIES: For money/ trade and exchange stories, this magazine and its writers accept no responsibility for accuracy — always check with other sources for important decisions. FOR HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE STORIES: In the case of food/health stories, these facts have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Information stated here should be NOT be considered as medical, health, psychological or behavior advice. All information in this story and on this site is provided for educational or entertainment purposes ONLY. Always seek the advice of experts, including doctors for medical opinions. Only a licensed medical doctor can offer medical advice. FOR EXPERT, ADVICE OR HOW-TO STORIES: Legal advice or other expert advice is best referred to experts in their respective fields. NO RESPONSIBILITY: The publishers and editors, authors, researchers, employees, heirs and assigns accept no responsibility whatsoever for any advice, facts, opinions in this story, nor for resulting actions of readers of this information. ALL READERS ACCEPT THAT THIS INFORMATION IS PRESENTED ONLY AS NEWS, EDUCATION, ENTERTAINMENT OR OPINION/INFORMATION AND AGREE IN READING THIS STORY OR THIS SITE THAT USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS SOLELY THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE READER. Copyright by the byline author unless otherwise indicated. EXCERPTS from other magazines or media sources are posted under fair use doctrine, on the basis of no more than 5-10% of content with links and credit to source for the complete story. These are posted in the interest of providing interesting links (description as excerpt) with navigation to the source. Likewise, we encourage our many subscribers to excerpt with credit and links to our e-zines, up to 10% of content. To use more content than 10%, please contact the e-zine for permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED except as stipulated herein. IMPORTANT: this web content also includes a forum and comments function, which allows for posting from users not employed by this publication. We accept no responsibility for posts, content, language or accuracy of posts from outside parties but will attempt to correct any inaccuracies reported within the context of free speach. Where possible, spam, lewd or obscene comments WILL BE REMOVED.
Persona Corp. and Blogertize publishes several webzines, magazines, e-zines for news, entertainment and information, but cautions readers to read the NOTICE above:
* Secure Network News Sponsored Advertisers Jameson Bank – Canada's "It's Taken Care Of" Bank Amer.com – Technology for Life
Reader Comments