U.S., Britain and Canada slap new sanctions on Iran
The new measures target Iran's petrochemical industry and its oil and gas business, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The United States also named Iran as a "primary money laundering concern."
Clinton said she expects additional sanctions by other international partners and that taken together "these measures represent a significant ratcheting up of pressure on Iran, its sources of income and its illegal activities."
Britain cut all financial ties with Iran, the first time it has cut an entire country's banking sector off from British finance, the British Treasury announced earlier on Monday.
Similarly, Canada said it was implementing a series of tougher sanctions, prohibiting almost all financial transactions with the Iranian government.
The moves come days after an International Atomic Energy Agency report highlighted new concerns about "the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," the British Treasury statement said Monday.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and has called the U.N. watchdog's report "unbalanced" and "politically motivated."
"The IAEA's report last week provided further credible and detailed evidence about the possible military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. "Today we have responded resolutely by introducing a set of new sanctions that prohibit all business with Iranian banks."
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird also cited the recent IAEA report as "yet more proof that the current regime in Tehran poses the most significant threats to global peace and security today."
"Canada is implementing, as of right now, a series of even tougher measures under the Special Economics Measures Act. These expanded sanctions prohibit almost all financial transactions with the Iranian government, add individuals and entities to the list of designated persons and expand the list of prohibited goods," he said in a statement.
Also Monday French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to various leaders and heads of state, urging "new sanctions of unprecedented magnitude to convince Iran that it must negotiate," according to a statement.
France recommended that the European Union and its member states, as well as the United States, Japan, Canada and other willing countries, freeze the asset of Iran's Central Bank and suspend purchases of Iranian oil.
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