BRUSSELS (EJP)---European Union Foreign Ministers on Monday adopted new tighter sanctions against Iran including measures to target investment in its oil and gas industries, EJP has learned at a meeting in Brussels.
The sanctions, which go beyond measures imposed by the United Nations Security Council on June 6, are aimed at pressuring Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear program.
They include a ban on selling equipment, technology and services to the Iranian energy sector.
They will also further limit the activities of Iranian trading banks and insurers, including restrictions on money transfers to Iran.
The new sanctions will take effect on Tuesday when they are published in the EU's official journal.
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| Israel welcomed the EU decision to impose additional and tighter sanctions on Iran. “This measure by the EU sends a clear message to Iran, that it should abide by the demands of the international community. It indicates the price that Iran has to pay for continuing its current conduct, and signals that the international community will not acquiesce to Teheran's systematic disregard of international norms,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. “The EU has taken a significant step, but it should be followed by similar action in other countries in prospect of widening the sanctions on Iran.” |
Ahead of the ministerial meeting in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told journalists that the purpose of the sanctions was to persuade Iran that "we need to discuss this issue, and move forward."
She exchanged letters with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in a bid to revive talks, and Tehran has indicated that they could resume in September.
The last high-level talks between Iran and the six world powers – Germany, Britain, China, France, Russia and the US – were held in Geneva in October 2009.
Western powers have called on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, fearing that Tehran wants to make nuclear weapons.