Brussels, 24/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and their European counterparts, the French, German and British ministers for foreign affairs have officially asked for new sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear programme. According to this letter, of which EUROPE has had a copy, Laurent Fabius (France), Guido Westerwelle (Germany) and William Hague (UK) say that “the urgency of the subject requires the EU to show determination and unity through rapid and decisive action”. They propose that formal discussions at the level of working groups of the Council of the EU begin “as quickly as possible with the aim of preparing a European decision for adoption by the European Foreign Affairs Council on 15 October”. And they ask member states to put forward their proposals for concrete measures “in the coming days”.
The heads of diplomacy highlight four sectors where “increased action is necessary”: energy, finance, trade and transport. They say they are also pleased that at the informal Gymnich Council in September all the ministers were in agreement about increasing pressure on Tehran.
To justify their position, the three ministers says that it is time for the EU to step up the pressure so as to influence the calculations of the Iranian regime and make it realise that Europeans have not exhausted all their options. Stressing that a diplomatic solution is always possible, they also say that the measures decided at the beginning of 2012 are having an enormous effect on Iran - in particular on its oil exports. “We think this pressure played a role in bringing Iran to the [negotiating] table”, they say (our translation throughout). They believe that additional encouragement for Iran to engage with the E3+3 group is also urgently needed, thus justifying the new sanctions.
The EU has already adopted several sets of banking and trade sanctions against Iran and on 1 July it put an oil embargo in place (see EUROPE 10645).
France, the United Kingdom and Germany are part of the E3+3 group, along with the United States, China and Russia. The group has the responsibility of negotiating with Iran. The E3+3 is due to meet in New York this week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. On Sunday Ashton and Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon, stressed the importance of making progress in the negotiations on the Iranian nuclear question. Ki-moon also welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (CG/transl.fl)