Sanctions to ban new contracts between bloc's 27 member states and Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear programme
Brussels, Jan.23.─ Members of the European Union have adopted an embargo on Iranian oil as part of sanctions over the country's disputed nuclear programme.
The EU sanctions, which were approved at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, follow financial punishments signed into law by the US on December 31 last year, and mainly target the oil sector, which accounts for some 90 per cent of Iranian exports to the EU.
The oil ban, along with sanctions against Iran's central bank and other measures, came as Western powers stepped up pressure on Iran to return to negotiations amid concerns that it is moving closer to building nuclear weapons.
Iran denounced the EU measures, saying that the decision was "unfair" and "doomed to fail".
"The method of threat, pressure and unfair sanctions against a nation that has a strong reason for its approach is doomed to fail," Ramin Mehmanparast, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, told the state broadcaster.
For its part, the US said the EU sanctions were consistent with steps it had taken against Iran.
It also announced new sanctions against Iran's third largest state-owned ban, Bank Tejarat, and the Trade Capital Bank, an affiliate. Both are still accessing the international financial system.
'Another strong step'
Timothy Geithner and Hillary Clinton, respectively the US treasury secretary and the secretary of state, said in a joint statement that the moves from Europe were "another strong step in the international effort to dramatically increase the pressure on Iran".
Under Monday's embargo decision, all new contracts for crude oil and petroleum products between Iran and any of the EU's 27 member states, will be forbidden ...
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