British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday that London would seek a worldwide ban on oil and gas investment in Iran if Tehran continued to defy the international community over its nuclear program in what he called a policy of "hard-headed internationalism."
Brown, in a major foreign policy speech in London on Monday evening, also described himself as a "lifelong admirer of America" who would have "no truck" with anti-Americanism in Britain or elsewhere in Europe.
The British leader was giving his first address to the annual Lord Mayor's banquet in the City of London since he took over as prime minister at the end of June.
PHOTO:AFP
The occasion, which brings together influential forces from politics and business, is traditionally used by British leaders to spell out foreign policy goals.
Commentators said Brown was keen to stress that he was as much a believer in the "special relationship" between Britain and the US as Tony Blair, his predecessor, while also making clear that contemporary issues and conflicts required a global response.
Brown said Britain would urge both the EU and the UN to impose tougher sanctions on financial sector dealings with Iran.
"Iran should be in no doubt about the seriousness of our purpose," he said, adding that action should follow unless there were "positive outcomes" from two major reports on Iran's activities due in the near future.
"We will lead in seeking tougher sanctions both at the UN and in the European Union, including on oil and gas investment and the financial sector," Brown said.
Iran had a choice between confrontation and the transformation of its relations with the international community, he said.
"My approach is hard-headed internationalism -- internationalist because global challenges need global solutions and nations must cooperate across borders, often with hard-headed intervention -- to give expression to our shared interests and shared values," the prime minister said.
"And hard-headed because we will not shirk from the difficult long-term decisions and because only through reform of our international rules and institutions will we achieve concrete, on-the-ground results," Brown said.
Stressing the importance of Britain's relations with the US, he said: "It is no secret that I am a lifelong admirer of America. I have no truck with anti-Americanism in Britain or elsewhere in Europe and I believe that our ties with America -- founded on values we share -- constitute our most important bilateral relationship."
He added that it was "good" for Britain, for Europe and for the wider world that France, Germany and the EU were also building stronger relationships with the US.
THE ‘MONSTER’: The Philippines on Saturday sent a vessel to confront a 12,000-tonne Chinese ship that had entered its exclusive economic zone The Philippines yesterday said it deployed a coast guard ship to challenge Chinese patrol boats attempting to “alter the existing status quo” of the disputed South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said Chinese patrol ships had this year come as close as 60 nautical miles (111km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon. “Their goal is to normalize such deployments, and if these actions go unnoticed and unchallenged, it will enable them to alter the existing status quo,” he said in a statement. He later told reporters that Manila had deployed a coast guard ship to the area
HOLLYWOOD IN TURMOIL: Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton and Cary Elwes lost properties to the flames, while awards events planned for this week have been delayed Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton, and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events, while at least five people have died. Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week’s Oscar nominations have been delayed, while tens of thousands of city residents had been displaced and were awaiting word on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city’s most famous denizens. More than 1,900 structures had been destroyed and the number was expected to increase. More than 130,000 people
A group of Uyghur men who were detained in Thailand more than one decade ago said that the Thai government is preparing to deport them to China, alarming activists and family members who say the men are at risk of abuse and torture if they are sent back. Forty-three Uyghur men held in Bangkok made a public appeal to halt what they called an imminent threat of deportation. “We could be imprisoned and we might even lose our lives,” the letter said. “We urgently appeal to all international organizations and countries concerned with human rights to intervene immediately to save us from
Some things might go without saying, but just in case... Belgium’s food agency issued a public health warning as the festive season wrapped up on Tuesday: Do not eat your Christmas tree. The unusual message came after the city of Ghent, an environmentalist stronghold in the country’s East Flanders region, raised eyebrows by posting tips for recycling the conifers on the dinner table. Pointing with enthusiasm to examples from Scandinavia, the town Web site suggested needles could be stripped, blanched and dried — for use in making flavored butter, for instance. Asked what they thought of the idea, the reply
RSS