EU sanctions on Iran tighten screws on shipping, air freight

EUROPEAN UNION leaders meeting in Brussels are considering imposing sanctions on Iran, augmenting those imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

In a statement, European leaders said measures should focus on trade, including goods that can be used for civilian and military purposes and "further restrictions on insurance," according to the New York Times.

"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," said the a EU statement.

The EU would also cover a freeze of additional Iranian banks and restrictions on banking and insurance, as well as the Iranian transport sector, with Iran's shipping and air cargo companies being banned from operating in Europe.

The European measures, the statement said, foresaw sanctions on "key sectors of the gas and oil industry with prohibition of new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies" and related equipment and services.

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 European leaders said. "Under these circumstances, new restrictive measures have become inevitable."

In response Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he is formulating plans to increase uranium enrichment and build four new atomic research facilities, including one "more powerful" than the American-built research reactor in Tehran, which has been the subject of intense negotiations among Iran, western nations, Brazil and Turkey.

"You have behaved badly," Mr Ahmadinejad said, addressing the countries that voted to pass the resolution in the United Nations Security Council, "but we have terms which will punish you and make you sit at the negotiating table like a polite child."

He also said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state television, that Iran would announce new conditions for talks, suggesting that he was open to dialogue in the wake of the Security Council vote.
(Source:www.schednet.com)