WarSclerotic

Australia to follow EU lead in b… JPost – Iranian Threat – News.

    Australia will follow the EU’s lead in banning oil imports from Iran, the country’s Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday.

“On the question of Iran, let me be absolutely clear (regarding) the actions taken in Brussels yesterday on sanctions by the European Union. We in Australia will undertake precisely the same parallel action for Australia,” he told reporters during a visit to London.
On Monday, the EU imposed a ban on Iranian oil imports beginning in July in an effort to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. The EU accounts for about about 20 percent of Iranian oil exports.

Following the EU decision, the US Treasury announced its own new sanctions on Iranian state-owned Bank Tejarat, accused of involvement in nuclear proliferation. According to an EU document published on Tuesday, Tejarat is among the entities it is blacklisting.

The EU said that Bank Tejarat had directly facilitated Iran’s nuclear efforts, for example by helping move funds to assist Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization in acquiring yellowcake uranium.

Bank Tejarat also has a history of helping designated Iranian banks circumvent international sanctions, the EU said.

By providing financial services to other banks, Bank Tejarat has also supported the activities of subsidiaries and subordinates of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and other Iranian military organizations, the EU said.

US President Barack Obama said on Monday that the new sanctions underlined the strength of the international community’s commitment to “addressing the serious threat presented by Iran’s nuclear program.”

Israel also welcomed the EU’s decision Monday to significantly step up sanctions against Iran, with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu calling the moves a “step in the right direction.”

Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor said Tuesday that building an international coalition to pressure Iran over its nuclear program is the best way to move forward.

Speaking with Israel Radio, Meridor praised new sanctions imposed by the EU and US Monday, saying, “An international coalition is coming together, [which] understands both the importance and urgency of the situation.”

Meridor emphasized that all options are still on the table, saying that international pressure on Iran “is the way we have to go.” The question, he said, is whether Iran will find the cost high enough to change course.

A nuclear Iran, the minister said, would change the power dynamics in the region and could start arms race.

Iran on Monday rejected the new sanctions as “psychological warfare,” saying they would worsen the stand-off over the Islamic state’s nuclear program.

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