EU agrees in principle to Iran oil ban

In their latest move to force Iran to abandon its peaceful nuclear program, EU governments have reached a preliminary agreement to impose an embargo on Iranian oil exports to the bloc.

“The principle of an oil embargo is agreed. It is not being debated anymore,” one EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity on Wednesday.

Although the sanction has been agreed on in principle, the EU governments have not yet decided on a date to put the embargo in place.

The anti-Iran move by the EU came after the United States, Britain, and Canada imposed unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s energy and financial sectors over Tehran’s nuclear program.

The US, israel, and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.