BRUSSELS:
The European Union provisionally approved new economic sanctions
against Iran over its nuclear program on Friday, with senior diplomats
giving their backing to measures against Tehran's banking sector,
industry and shipping.
The move marks a major step-up of
European efforts to pressure Tehran to scale back its nuclear work, amid
growing concerns over Iran's military intentions, foundering diplomacy
and threats of attack on Iran's nuclear installations by Israel.
Iran
denies it wants to produce nuclear weapons and has so far refused to
meet international demands made in three rounds of talks this year,
unless major economic sanctions are lifted.
European efforts
complement plans for more sanctions in the United States and aim to
tighten the financial noose on the government. Already, the Iranian
economy is suffering and the rial currency has lost nearly two-thirds of
its value to the dollar over the last year.
"The new EU sanctions
... are a response to the uncompromising stance that Iran took in the
diplomatic talks," said nuclear proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick of
the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank.
The
new measures will have to be formally approved on Monday at an EU
foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg before coming to effect.
An
EU diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new measures
include a ban on financial transactions, with some exceptions for those
involving humanitarian aid, food and medicine purchases and provisions
for legitimate trade.
In a reversal of existing European sanctions
policy, the ban will force European traders to apply to their national
governments for authorization before they can finance any transactions
in allowed goods.
Previously, the EU's more narrow approach was to allow trade broadly while banning specific products.
"That
further restricts Iran's ability to move money around efficiently,
which will only further aggravate the current financial crisis the
Iranian regime is confronting inside the country," said Emanuele
Ottolenghi of the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of
Democracies.
Trade will be hampered further by a new ban on Europeans extending short-term trade guarantees.
PICKING TARGETS
EU
states will also be banned from selling metals and graphites -crucial
in steel-making - to Iran. In a largely symbolic move, the EU will also
ban imports of natural gas from Iran.
The amount of gas that
reaches Europe form Iran is insignificant in terms of volumes. It is
mostly transported via Turkey, which blends it with Azeri gas and ships
it on.
"Coreper (a committee of EU ambassadors) agreed the
sanctions package on (the) Iranian nuclear program," said the diplomat
in a message to Reuters.
The EU is also targeting Iran's shipping
industry, in an effort to curb Tehran's ability to sell oil to obtain
funds and hard currency. It banned imports of Iranian oil earlier this
year.
New measures will forbid European companies to provide
shipbuilding technology and oil storage capabilities, as well as
flagging and classification services to Iranian tankers.
"Considering
that virtually all vital parts of the engines in Iran's tankers and
commercial fleets are made in Europe, this ban will eventually ground
Iran's commercial shipping to a halt," said Ottolenghi.
Thirty-four
Iranian companies or institutions will be added to a list of more than
400 facing European asset freezes. The names will become public after
new measures are formally adopted.
More sanctions are also being prepared in the United States.
"The
core message to Iran is: If you don't begin to negotiate seriously,
your economic plight is just going to get worse," said Cliff Kitchen, a
Middle East analyst at consultancy Eurasia Group.
Some experts
said playing hardball by western governments hoping to restart
negotiations after the November presidential election in the United
States may backfire.
"What would be more conducive for diplomacy
today is sanctions relief, not more sanctions," said Ali Vaez, senior
Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group think tank. "The more
sanctions are levied against Iran, the higher the price will be for a
negotiated solution." (Reuters)
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