Copenhagen, 11/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Danish Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal announced on Wednesday 11 January that the issue of further sanctions against Iran because of its controversial nuclear programme will be discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council on 23 January. He made clear that any sanctions agreed at that meeting would hit both the oil and financial sectors. “I think we are moving towards further sanctions, including financial sanctions”, he said. These could be directed against the Iranian central bank. AFP quotes a European diplomat as saying that while “we are moving in that direction”, there remain “decisions to be taken on how” to freeze transactions with the Iranian central bank.
Soevndal also expressed his opposition to military intervention. He said that the EU was not looking at the military dimension but “we want to bring such pressure to bear on Iran that it is forced to return to the negotiating table. If we open up a military option, we will close the option of negotiation”. He added that the Middle East should be a nuclear-weapons-free zone.
The minister also sought to provide reassurance on alternatives for the supply of fuel if an embargo is placed on Iranian oil, on which Spain, Greece and Italy are partly dependent. “If such a situation transpires, it will be very much in the interest of the Gulf States to expand their production”, he argued, also pointing out that Libya is “currently increasing its production”.
Eight US senators have written to High Representative Catherine Ashton asking her to move more quickly on sanctions against Iran. They want the EU to put an oil embargo in place as quickly as possible and to bring sanctions against the Iranian central bank. (CG/transl.rt)