Reuters, Rome, 25 Nov 2011 – Italy believes sanctions should be tightened against Iran, and is seeking to persuade its companies to stop buying Iranian oil, the spokesman for Italy’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Italy relies on Iran for around 13 percent of its crude oil needs, equivalent to over 10 million tonnes per year (around 200,000 barrels per day).

“We are deeply convinced that we need to strengthen the pressure of sanctions on Iran and we are ready to discuss sanctions measures with our partners,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari told Reuters.

“We are applying moral persuasion on our companies to diversify their supplies of oil imports,” he added.