Britain, France, Germany and the US were considering imposing additional sanctions on Iran over its nuclear work, possibly in the energy, reinsurance or financial sectors, a senior British official said on Friday.
These would be beyond measures already taken by the UN Security Council and beyond steps likely to be considered in a possible next round of UN sanctions, the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity.
“We are at a fairly early stage of this but ... there are areas of the Iranian economy that are vulnerable to targeted sanctions — whether they be in the LNG [liquefied natural gas] sector, investment in the oil and gas sector, imported refined products, reinsurance, other financial areas — which are areas we would look at if we are looking to increase the pressure on the Iranian leadership,” the official said.
He said the countries discussing imposing additional sanctions were Britain, France, the US and Germany, and primarily the first three of those countries.
There were “a number of other countries that we would want to involve in those discussions as we go forward,” he said, without naming them.
The UN Security Council has previously passed three sanctions resolutions against Iran.
Middle East experts say talks on a new sanctions resolution would be lengthy as veto-wielding council members Russia and China seek to balance their growing frustration with Iran with major commercial interests in the world’s fourth-biggest oil producer.
Iran’s oil and gas industries are seen as off-limits for UN sanctions.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government ordered the state oil company to deposit oil revenues only in selected banks in a bid to dodge toughening sanctions over its nuclear drive, Iranian media reported yesterday.
The state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) had been free to choose where to deposit the tens of billions of dollars Iran receives annually in earnings from its crude oil exports.
But a new government directive said the NIOC could now deposit the foreign currency only in foreign banks previously selected by the central bank.
“NIOC is from now on obliged to deposit 100 percent of crude oil export income in foreign bank accounts that are chosen by the Central Bank of Iran,” state television quoted the new government directive as saying.
The order did not say on which criteria the foreign banks would be selected.
But EU governments have pressured European financial institutions to cut their business with Iran as a way of pressuring the Islamic republic in the standoff over its controversial nuclear program.
The West also wants Asian banks to loosen their traditionally close ties with Iran.
“This decision was made after the expansion of new rounds of sanctions against Iran so that Iran’s assets are not blocked in foreign banks,” the Sarmayeh newspaper quoted a source in oil ministry as saying.
“Many foreign banks … and even some Chinese banks have cut their financial operations with Iran and these [restrictions] increase day by day,” the source said.
Thanks to record oil prices, Iran pocketed US$29.5 billion in the first four months of the current calendar year that began on March 20.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from