EU mulls new sanctions against defiant Iran

EU mulls new sanctions against defiant Iran

The European Union may approve fresh sanctions against Iran within weeks, after a UN agency said Tehran had worked to design nuclear bombs, EU diplomats said on Thursday.

Iran denies trying to build atom bombs and its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said any US or Israeli attack on its nuclear sites would be met with ‘iron fists’.

The United States and Israel have refused to rule out any option to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear arsenal.

Diplomats in Brussels said preliminary discussions among EU capitals on new measures had begun and plans may be ready for EU foreign ministers in Brussels to approve on December 1.

“Experts are discussing a number of options on the table but it is difficult to foresee the outcome of the debate”, one EU diplomat said.

Another said he expected a formal decision to be reached on December 1.

Sanctions

Iran already faces a wide range of UN sanctions, as well as some imposed unilaterally by the United States and the EU.

New EU sanctions would be a significant part of Western efforts to ratchet up pressure on Tehran after the UN nuclear watchdog's report this week that laid bare a trove of intelligence suggesting Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

The White House said on Thursday that the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was ‘very alarming’ and it would continue to push Tehran to change its behaviour.

Western governments would prefer further Security Council measures against Tehran.

But Russia and China, both permanent Security Council members with veto power, are opposed and on Thursday said new sanctions would not work.

Tehran, which says its nuclear program is for producing electricity and other peaceful purposes, said it remains ready for negotiations with world powers on the issue.

Western diplomats say only sanctions against Iran's energy sector could exert serious pressure on Tehran, but such steps would also hurt a global economy hit by Europe's debt crisis.

Diplomatic solution

In a sign of growing concern over a possible escalation in the nuclear standoff, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, called for a diplomatic solution.

“The secretary-general reiterates his belief that a negotiated rather than a military solution is the only way to resolve this issue”, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

Israel reacted to the IAEA report by urging world powers to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, saying Tehran's pursuit of such arms endangered ‘the peace of the world’.

Iran's announcement last year that it had escalated uranium enrichment from the low level needed for electricity production to 20 per cent, alarmed many countries that feared it was a key step toward making material potent enough for a nuclear bomb.

Tehran however says it needs the fuel to make isotopes for cancer treatment.

REUTERS/Ehimen/Williams