LONDON: Russia has warned the European Union on Thursday to not support American demands that sanctions be brought down against Iranian oil exports. Moscow claims it would leave too much of a burden on EU citizens. “If the EU follows the Americans and places an embargo on purchases of Iranian oil … then the Europeans will suffer first and foremost, and not the US, it has plenty of its own reserves,” said Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's National Security Council, in an interview. “Considering the long-term economic problems in the eurozone, a move like that would only make things worse,” Patrushev said in comments to the newspaper Kommersant. Russia's government is “aware,” Patrushev said, of an EU plan to invoke new sanctions against Iran, possibly on January 23. The ban would make illegal the import of Iranian oil to the world's largest trading region. But political analysts say the sanctions could be a means of avoiding a violent confrontation with Tehran. According to Matti Suminan, a Finnish analyst based in Brussels, the idea of sanctions “is a lot better than the alternative,” referring to talks in Washington and in Israel of a possible military action against Iran. “I think what we are seeing right now is posturing on the White House's part because Barack Obama does not want to enter into another military conflict. He knows the American public would not like that, so sanctions are his way of showing they are doing something,” he told Bikyamasr.com. Patrushev said American claims that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon – Washington's main justification for new sanctions against Tehran – were unproven. “We have heard for years and years that the Iranians are going to build an atomic bomb in the next few weeks. But the real existence of a military component of Iran's nuclear program has never been demonstrated,” he said. Suminan added that Russia has “little legitimacy” after being caught sending weapons to Syria in recent days. “Here in Brussels, the people I speak with are pretty certain nobody is really listening to Moscow at the moment,” the analyst said, who is also a consultant for the Finnish foreign ministry. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/dn0ls Tags: featured, Oil, Russia, sanctions Section: Business, Europe, Iran, Latest News
