BELGIUM: EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels toughen Iran sanctions and examine practicalities of EU-wide Iran oil embargo

Record ID: 830782

  • Title: BELGIUM: EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels toughen Iran sanctions and examine practicalities of EU-wide Iran oil embargo
  • Date: 2nd December 2011
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL EU FLAGS ENTRANCE OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL NABIL ALARABY ARRIVING, ENTERING BUILDING BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 1, 2011) (REUTERS) LOGO OF EUROPEAN COUNCIL
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium, Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: International Relations,European Union,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADBS7E3Q74OMW6BHWAZ24G02V3
  • Story Text: The European Union tightened its sanctions against Tehran on Thursday (December 1) and laid out plans for a possible embargo on Iranian oil in response to mounting concerns in the West over the OPEC producer's nuclear work.
    At a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers decided new sanctions should be drawn up in time for their next meeting in January. That could lead to gradual cuts in Europe's imports of Iranian crude.
    Separately, they added 180 Iranian people and entities to a sanctions blacklist that imposes asset freezes and travel bans on those involved in the nuclear programme which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.
    "On the nuclear file, we agreed new important sanctions against 190, sorry 180, Iranians and Iranian entities. We also decided to work on proposals made by French president, which were much tougher, unprecedented sanctions on financial and energy sector," said French Foreign minister Alain Juppe.
    Concern over Iran's programme grew this month after the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report that suggested Iran has worked on designing an atom bomb.
    Juppe said after meeting his counterparts in Brussels that the EU would work with its partners to offset any shortfall if an oil embargo were imposed.
    France, which has pushed for oil sanctions, appears to have overcome resistance among some EU member states who had expressed concerns over economic costs of an oil embargo.
    Experts say global crude prices could rise if the EU bans Iranian oil, which could bring additional economic pain as Europe struggles with a debt crisis and the spectre of recession.
    Greece, in particular, had been reticent, because financial woes have led it to buy more Iranian crude. Sources say Tehran has been offering better financing terms at a time when banks are reluctant to extend loans to Athens.
    "We are working on it. Greece has voiced some concerns, we have to take them into account and work with the different partners so that the interruption of (oil) deliveries from Iran could be compensated by a rise in production in other countries... It is something that is absolutely possible," Juppe said.
    German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle echoed Juppe's comments and said EU member states relying on Iranian oil like Greece or Italy would be helped to offset possible shortfalls.
    "On the one hand you have European member states that could be hit hard, and what can we do to help them and then of course there is the question of whether there are other oil-producing countries who are prepared to increase their production amounts. These are all questions that should be brought up and that is why it is too early to go into detail here, but rather today the work tenders are being written and that has to be finished by January, in the transport sector, in the financial sector and energy sector," Westerwelle said.
    EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Ashton said the oil embargo against Iran would be weighed by technical experts.
    "What we agreed in the meeting and you'll see in the actual text of the conclusions, was to look at a range of issues including the energy sector, but the detail of exactly what should be done now goes in to the technical experts who decide what will work, what is appropriate for European Union members states to do and what will have what effect on Iran. So those issues are being debated," Ashton said.
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