Norway joins EU sanctions against Iran

Thursday, 29 July 2010 07:25

Norway has decided to align itself with the EU’s further sanctions against Iran, calling on Iran to engage in dialogue with the international community, and to comply with the requirements of the Security Council.

“The decision is an expression of Norway’s support for the efforts of the international community to engage Iran in a binding dialogue on its nuclear programme,” State Secretary Gry Larsen said in a comment.

In the decision, reference is made to UN Security Council resolution 1929 of 9 June 2010, which calls on UN member states to consider taking further measures in addition to implementing their obligations under the various Security Council resolutions.

“Norway, like the rest of the world, is concerned about the nature of Iran’s nuclear programme. In our view, Iran has not taken the many opportunities it has been offered to allay the concerns of the international community about its nuclear programme and cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Since the EU has adopted tougher sanctions on the basis of this in order to exert pressure on Iran to cooperate, it is natural for Norway to support this approach,” Ms Larsen said. Once again, Norway calls on Iran to engage in dialogue with the international community, to comply with the requirements of the Security Council and cooperate fully with the IAEA.

On 26 July, the EU Foreign Affairs Council adopted a new package of restrictive measures against Iranian sectors. The new package includes implementation of the measures contained in Security Council resolution 1929, as well as accompanying measures. The measures cover sectors such as trade, financial services, transport and energy. The tougher sanctions are intended to exert pressure on the Iranian authorities, not on the population of Iran.

In recent years, Norwegian private sector activities in Iran have been scaled down, partly due to difficult framework conditions in the country, existing sanctions, and the possibility of further sanctions. There is therefore reason to assume that the new sanctions will only have a limited effect on the Norwegian private sector.

“Like all other countries that are party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Iran has the right to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes. In order to be able to do this, however, the country must show transparency, cooperate fully with the IAEA and comply with the requirements of the UN Security Council,” Ms Larsen said.

(Press release)