EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 23 January 2012
A 20/12
Today we have covered Iran, Burma/Myanmar, Syria, the Middle East Peace Process, Belarus, and the events in Sudan and South Sudan. We also discussed the concerns we have not least about the events in Nigeria over the weekend, on freedom of religion and faith and belief.
We have adopted tough new sanctions on Iran, because of the concerns we have over their nuclear programme. Many of you will have seen the IAEA report which highlighted our concerns.
We have added additional restrictive measures in the energy sector, including a phased embargo on Iranian crude oil imports to the EU, and in the financial sector, including against the Central Bank of Iran, while ensuring that legitimate trade can continue under strict conditions. And the decisions will be published in the Official Journal tomorrow.
I want to stress however that sanctions are not an end in themselves. I have often talked about this being part of a twin track approach. The purpose of sanctions is to put pressure on Iran to come back to the negotiating table, a message that I have sent consistently through as many channels as I possibly can: including a letter to Dr Jalili, the chief negotiator, on October 21; in my conversations with Dr Salehi, the Foreign Minister of Iran; and through many other interlocutors who have dialogue with Iran.
