EU to pursue Iran sanctions despite threat of strait closure

The European Union is pressing ahead with plans to impose new sanctions on Iran, an EU spokesman said on Wednesday after Tehran threatened to close a vital oil transit channel in response to Western measures, The Daily Star reports.

"The European Union is considering another set of sanctions against Iran and we continue to do that," Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, says.

"We expect the decision will be taken in time for the foreign affairs council on January 30," he said, referring to the next meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi warned on Tuesday that "not a drop of oil will pass through the Strait of Hormuz" if the West broadened sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.