Wednesday, September 23, 2009 PARIS: France's foreign minister said in an interview Wednesday he was not in favour of plans mooted by some US lawmakers to impose fuel sanctions on Iran to make it come clean on its nuclear programme."I think this is a bit dangerous," Bernard Kouchner told a news publication.Kouchner, speaking in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, warned that a fuel blockade would harm the Iranian people, "and mainly poor people."French officials however said their government had not yet decided its position on such a measure, the paper said, adding that analysts believed that if France came out against fuel sanctions the idea would probably be dropped.The UN Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions against Iran over its refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment activities which could be used to build an atomic bomb. Iran denies it wants to make an atomic bomb.US lawmakers have been pushing President Barack Obama to squeeze Iran by targeting its heavy reliance on petrol imports.Oil-rich Iran, though OPEC's second largest oil exporter, is dependent on petroleum imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption due to shortage of refining capacity.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 PARIS: France's foreign minister said in an interview Wednesday he was not in favour of plans mooted by some US lawmakers to impose fuel sanctions on Iran to make it come clean on its nuclear programme."I think this is a bit dangerous," Bernard Kouchner told a news publication.Kouchner, speaking in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly, warned that a fuel blockade would harm the Iranian people, "and mainly poor people."French officials however said their government had not yet decided its position on such a measure, the paper said, adding that analysts believed that if France came out against fuel sanctions the idea would probably be dropped.The UN Security Council has already imposed three sets of sanctions against Iran over its refusal to freeze its uranium enrichment activities which could be used to build an atomic bomb. Iran denies it wants to make an atomic bomb.US lawmakers have been pushing President Barack Obama to squeeze Iran by targeting its heavy reliance on petrol imports.Oil-rich Iran, though OPEC's second largest oil exporter, is dependent on petroleum imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption due to shortage of refining capacity.
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