Iran

Iraninan MP: Sanctioning Iran Means Committing Economic Suicide by EU

A senior member of the Iranian parliament underlined that European countries’ decision to intensify sanctions on Iran will be harmful to the European states, and stated that Europe is committing an “economic suicide”.

Speaking to FNA on Wednesday, member of the parliament’s Budget Commission Ezatollah Yousefiyan said the EU and the US are sustaining direct losses from Iran sanctions since they need Iran’s oil and the recent sanctions have increased the global oil prices.

“In fact, the harmful results of the move will first be directed the European Union,” the lawmaker added.

He pointed to the need to Iran’s oil among EU members, and stated, “Greece and Italy are major and primary consumers of Iran’s oil and the EU move (to impose sanction on Iran) is in fact a kind of committing economic suicide.”

Meantime, analysts and observers have warned that any sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sector will drastically hike up the global oil prices.

Oil rose towards $110 a barrel on Friday as the US and its western allies only discussed sanctions on Iran although a hot debate over embargos on Iranian oil supplies at the European Union failed to produce any result on Thursday.

Despite long hues and cries about new sanctions against Iran, the EU and the US could only enlist some more Iranian officials in their sanctions list on Thursday. Several members of the European bloc voiced opposition to any sanction on Iranian oil, pushing France, the most hawkish EU member, back.

Crisis-hit Greece has said ‘No’ to an EU oil ban on Iran, causing relief among other member states. Britain and France, the most hawkish EU countries, failed to convince other member states to impose oil embargos on Iran.

The developments took place at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels last Thursday.

Analysts believe that the unilateral boycotts and embargoes imposed by the western countries against Iran will no doubt harm foreign companies and create an opportunity for Tehran’s further progress.

Iran is under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West’s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used their influence on the UN Security Council to press for fresh sanctions against Tehran.

Iranian officials have repeatedly refuted the accusations, arguing that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Tehran has the right to use the civilian nuclear technology.

Iran, which sits on the world’s second largest reserves of both oil and gas, has dismissed US sanctions as inefficient, saying that it is finding Asian partners instead. Several Chinese and other Asian firms are negotiating or signing up to oil and gas deals.

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