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Iran has 'options' against possible new sanctions
(Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said Tehran has "options" to answer possible new sanctions by the European Union over its refusal to halt nuclear work, local newspaper Kayhan reported on Wednesday. "People and officials in our country are watchful of the other side's decisions. If they take a decision against Iran, we have options against it," Hosseini was quoted as saying, without elaborating on the possible reaction of the Islamic Republic. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday that Europe was to agree new sanctions against Iran including freezing the assets of a major Iranian bank. "The British prime minister has made this claim, but other European officials have rejected it, announcing that no new decision has been made to further increase the sanctions against Iran," Hosseini said at the 18th International Persian Gulf Conference in Tehran on Tuesday, according to the official IRNA news agency. Iran is to respond to the proposal presented by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Saturday offering it talks on a package of technological and economic incentives, so long as Tehran suspends uranium enrichment. An Iranian banking official said on Tuesday that his country is not planning to withdraw assets from European banks, refuting reports that Iran had withdrawn about 75 billion U.S. dollars from European banks amid fears the funds could be frozen under planned new sanctions over the Iranian nuclear program. Iran's government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said on Saturday that the country will reject any nuclear deal offered by major world powers that demands a suspension of its uranium enrichment. Posted by: Fred 2008-06-19 |
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