EU Approves Iran Oil Imports Ban

By ⋅ January 23, 2012 ⋅ Post a comment
USS Abraham Lincoln (Photo: US Defense Department)

USS Abraham Lincoln (Photo: US Defense Department)

European Union foreign ministers have formally adopted an oil embargo against Iran over its nuclear program.

The sanctions involve an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran, while existing contracts will be honored until July 1.

Tehran denies that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons and says talks and not sanctions are the only way to resolve the dispute.

The EU currently buys about 20 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

(Graphic: BBC)

(Graphic: BBC)


Meanwhile, the Pentagon said the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, as well as a British Royal Navy frigate and a French warship, have passed through the Straits of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf without incident in the wake of Iranian threats to block the trade route.

Under the new deal, EU governments are expected to stop signing new contracts with Iran when the ban comes into place – which could be as soon as this week, Reuters news agency reports.

All existing contracts will have to be phased out by July 1.

More from the BBC


(Map: BBC)

Discussion

One comment for “EU Approves Iran Oil Imports Ban”

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/ET5H4DEMVWJIPEJOAEKZ5RWQHI Sam Banasiewicz

    I believe the EU is taking all the correct steps necessary against the Iranian Government. Just because the Iranian Government has found nuclear energy and a way to possibly use it in war, shouldn’t give them the right to use it while in a state of war, because most countries have agreed not to use the WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction).