Majlis to review Iran-EU relations

Majlis (parliament) Speaker Ali Larijani says Tehran will review its relations with European countries which have unilaterally imposed sanctions on Iran. “The European Union should not think that their actions will be ignored. The Islamic Republic will definitely review its relations with countries that behave in such a manner and we will also review this issue in Majlis,” he said on Tuesday. Britain and the US have imposed new sanctions on Iran's banking and energy sectors after the UN nuclear agency's recent report on Tehran's nuclear program. Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom George Osborne said on Monday, November 21, that White Hall was terminating all contact between the British financial system and the entire Iranian banking system The US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also announced that Washington is imposing new sanctions against Iran's oil and petrochemicals industry as well as against Iranian firms supplying Tehran's nuclear program. “There have been no new developments in our nuclear program to merit such a resolution. Therefore, the origin of the resolution should be sought elsewhere,” Mehr News Agency quoted Larijani as saying. The Iranian Speaker said the real reason behind the adoption of restrictive measures by European countries against Iran were recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa which have led to the overthrow of Western-backed dictators. “The recent measure taken by the European Union is also somewhat related to their futile efforts at the [UN] Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) [against Iran],” he added. Larijani said that even the IAEA's recent anti-Iranian resolution was not remarkable. The IAEA Board of Governors adopted its latest resolution on Iran's nuclear program on Friday, November 18, calling on the country to engage in dialogue over the so-called outstanding issues and expressing “deep and increasing concern” over Tehran's atomic program. The resolution, however, stopped short of reporting Iran to the UNSC or setting a deadline for Tehran to comply.