European Parliament
Laima Liucija Andrikienė  (PPE ). -
Mr President, I welcome the EU decision to place an embargo on Iranian oil imports, ban new contracts and freeze Iranian central bank assets, because the recent EU decision, coupled with existing American measures, will come close to imposing the ‘crippling sanctions’ referred to by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
It is important to note that the EU, as a block, is Iran’s second largest customer, taking about a quarter of Iranian exports. The latest set of EU and US sanctions goes beyond targeting the persons and institutions involved in the nuclear programme. Hopefully those sanctions will achieve their aim, but more important is that the EU Member States are perfectly aware of the possible consequences and that the respective governments are prepared to deal with them.
The European Parliament, in its resolution, makes a strong statement in support of the EU’s dual-track approach for the negotiations with Iran, which offers both rewards and punishments. What is clear is that we are far away from trusting the current Iranian regime and, at the same time, we would wish Iran to become a country like Japan, which has the capability to become a nuclear power quickly if need be, but which has rejected taking the final steps to possessing nuclear weapons.
Finally, in this context, what could give negotiations and diplomacy a chance is the ever-changing situation in Iran and in the region, including the move towards democracy in the Middle East.

