UK's Hague backs Iran's oil embargo

UK’s Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke on Tuesday about the unprecedented EU sanctions on Iran’s oil. “Today's action demonstrates the EU's growing concern about Iran's nuclear programme and our determination to increase peaceful, legitimate pressure on Iran to return to negotiations,” the Foreign Secretary said in a press statement. According to Hague, the EU’s action, which was agreed by all 27 foreign ministers, was made necessary by Iran’s defiance of six UN Security Council Resolutions and its refusal to enter negotiations over its nuclear programme. “Iran's recent decision to commence 20 percent enrichment at its underground site at Qom shows that it continues to choose a path of provocation,” Hague commented. The Foreign Secretary has then called again on Iran to answer the questions raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to adhere to UN Security Council Resolutions and to suspend its enrichment programme in accordance with them. Declaring UK ready to talk at any point if the Arab country puts aside its preconditions, Hague said: “Today's sanctions show how serious EU member states are about preventing nuclear proliferation and pressing Iran to return to the negotiating table. We will urge other nations across the world to implement similar measures and to increase the impact of the measures the EU has adopted." Hague's words follow Iranian Foreign Ministry's official statement on Monday, which denounced the EU for adopting "imprudent and unjustifiable" decisions on Tehran. According to the official statement of Ali Akbar Salehi', the country's Foreign Minister, EU embargo on Iran's oil will have adverse consequences for the Europeans themselves and he added that: "The Islamic Republic slams such unprincipled moves and insists on its policy of establishing relations with countries based on international regulations and rights as well as mutual respect." Iranian Foreign Ministry also pointed that Tehran has repeatedly insisted on the peaceful nature of its nuclear program and proceeded with cooperation in line with regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that it seems that the EU is unwisely pursuing the same policies of the US and Israel. "[The EU] seeks to distract public opinion from the popular justice-seeking awakening movement against discrimination and capitalism by way of spreading propaganda," the statement also reads.