EU bans oil imports from Iran, imposes other curbs

Tehran responds with threat to block Strait of Hormuz

A file photo shows a USS aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
The vessel passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is now in the Gulf.

Brussels/Tehran, Jan 23
The European Union banned imports of oil from Iran on Monday and imposed a number of other economic sanctions, joining the United States in a new round of measures aimed at deflecting Tehran's nuclear development programme.

In Iran, one politician responded by renewing a threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, an oil-exporting route vital to the global economy, and another said Tehran should cut off oil to the EU immediately. That might hurt Greece, Italy and other ailing economies that depend heavily on Iranian crude and, as a result, won as part of the EU agreement a grace period until July 1 before the embargo takes full effect.

A day after a US aircraft carrier, accompanied by a flotilla that included French and British warships, made a symbolically loaded voyage into the Gulf in defiance of Iranian hostility, the widely expected EU sanctions move was likely to set off further bellicose rhetoric in an already tense region. Some analysts say Iran, which denies accusations that it seeking nuclear weapons, could be in a position to make them next year.

So, with Israel warning it could use force to prevent that happening, the row over Tehran's plans is an increasingly pressing challenge for world leaders, not least U.S. President Barack Obama as he campaigns for re-election in November.

Meeting in Brussels, foreign ministers from the 27-state EU, which as a bloc is Iran's second-biggest customer for crude after China, agreed to an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, purchase or transport Iranian crude oil and petroleum products. However, EU countries with existing contracts to buy oil and petroleum products can honour them up to July 1.

EU officials said they also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and ban trade in gold and other precious metals with the bank and state bodies. Along with US sanctions imposed on December 31, the Western powers hope choking exports and hence funding can force Iran's leaders to agree to curbs on a nuclear programme the West says is intended to yield weapons.