Foreign ministers of 27 EU states have hудв a session in Brussels where they approved an embargo on Iranian oil exports, RIA Novosti reports.
Earlier reports from Brussels said that the ban on oil exports of Iran will be gradual and will come into full force on July 1.
Most Iranian imports come to Greece, Italy and Spain (about 68%). Greece consumes 35% of Iranian oil exports.
The US and a set of other Western states accuse Iran of developing nuclear arms on the background of peaceful atom. Tehran denies all accusations and insists that the nuclear program is to fulfill demands for electricity.
The IAEA published a report on Iranian nuclear program in late January, stating that Tehran had been developing nuclear arms before 2003 and continues the process. The IAEA passed a resolution on November 18, urging Iran to allow experts of the agency to visit nuclear facilities and start cooperating. The US and EU started discussions of an oil embargo against the Islamic Republic. Iran threatened to block the Hormuz Strait.
The six mediators (Russia, China, US, France, UK and Germany) and the IAEA have been trying to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment since 2003, saying that the process threatens the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Negotiations were hindered in 2009 when the IAEA criticized Iran for building the second uranium-enrichment facility and urged Tehran to confirm that no other unannounced nuclear facilities had been under construction.
