EU Ministers Impose New Sanctions On Belarus, Iran, Syria
BRUSSELS -- European Union foreign ministers have imposed new sanctions targeting the Iranian, Belarusian, and Syrian regimes.
Diplomats say the measures include an EU travel ban and asset freeze on
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's wife, Asma, and around 10 other
Syrians.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on around 150 Syrian companies and
people following the violent crackdown on antiregime opponents.
On Belarus, the EU ministers added 29 firms and 12 people to some 230
Belarusians already blacklisted in response to repression of the
political opposition by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime.
The ministers added 17 Iranians responsible for alleged abuses to a
blacklist of 61 people already facing an EU travel ban and assets
freeze. The ministers also extended the sanctions on all for another
year.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, speaking ahead of the
meeting, said the Syria sanctions were aimed at increasing the pressure
on Assad's regime to end the violence, which the United Nations says has
killed more than 8,000 people in the past year.
"I am really worried about the escalating spiral of violence in Syria,"
she said, "and what we need to have is a method by which, first of all,
the violence can stop."
Expulsions Ordered
British-born Asma al-Assad became the focus of sharp criticism recently
after Syrian activists released what they said were messages from her
and her husband's personal e-mail accounts. The messages -- which have
not been independently verified -- suggest Asma continued shopping
online for luxury goods as the violence in Syria was escalating.
The latest EU action marked the second round of sanctions targeting
Belarusian individuals linked to the regime within the past month. The
Belarusian government reacted to the earlier round of sanctions by
asking the Polish ambassador and the EU's envoy to Belarus to leave the
country.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the EU had to continue its policy of sanctions against the
regime of President Lukashenka, whom he described as "the last dictator
in Europe."
"[Belarus President Alyaksandr] Lukashenka is the last dictator in
Europe. We cannot just simply watch when people in Europe are
suppressed, locked up, and whole families are suffering," Westerwelle
said. " It is therefore necessary that we continue our policy of
sanctions."
On Iran, the ministers also imposed a ban on exports to Iran of equipment that could be used for electronic surveillance.
The EU ministers also approved regulations on implementing a ban on oil imports from Iran starting July 1.
The EU agreed the oil ban in January as part of efforts to pressure Iran
to curb nuclear work, which Western nations fear is aimed at making
atomic weapons -- a charge denied by the Islamic republic.