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’Europe Iran oil imports twice as 2008’

31 October 2010 03:12 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Despite US push to choke off Iran’s energy sector, Europe’s imports of Iranian crude is double the amount in 2008, an American magazine reports, APA reports quoting Press TV.

In a report, the Time magazine said that although the United States was pushing its European allies into cutting energy ties with Iran, Europe still maintained its economic ties with the Islamic Republic.

â€œEven the US’s close allies in Europe have stopped short of cutting their relations with Iran, allowing it to continue its trade in oil and gas,â€ it said.

The report added that according to the International Energy Agency in Paris, â€œEurope imports about 1.2 million barrels of Iranian crude per day, which is double the amount in 2008.â€

In addition, the report noted that certain EU partnerships with Iran could be â€œexempted from the sanctionsâ€ by EU officials if â€œthey consider them crucial to Europe’s energy needs.â€

The Time went on to say that â€œunlike US companiesâ€ European firms were free to buy Iranian crude oil and natural gas and to sell refined petroleum products to Iran. According to the report, the EU urged financial institutions â€œto lend their support to that legitimate trade.â€

This comes as a new EU document issued last week said that restrictive measures against the Islamic Republic â€œshould not affect the import or export of oil or gas to and from Iran.â€

The UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted the fourth round of sanctions against Tehran in June under intense US campaign claiming that Iran’s nuclear program may have potential military applications.

In addition to UNSC sanctions, the US administration took new unilateral measures against Iran in July, seeking to prevent Iran’s access to refined oil products and penalize foreign companies that help the country’s energy sector.

The United States has also been encouraging other countries, in particular its European allies, to abandon economic ties with Iran.

Iran has maintained it is seeking peaceful applications of nuclear technology, rejecting repeated yet undocumented Western allegations that it may have a secret military agenda in its nuclear program.