AJC Praises New EU Sanctions on Iran, Urges Recall of All EU Ambassadors

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Dec 01, 2011, 05:43 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC applauded France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands for withdrawing their ambassadors from Tehran, after an Iranian government-supported mob ransacked the British Embassy on Monday. The U.K. immediately closed its embassy in Tehran and ordered Iran's diplomatic staff to leave London.

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AJC had urged all EU countries with embassies in Iran to recall their ambassadors. "We hope that other European countries will now follow the laudable examples of France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, and stand in full solidarity with the United Kingdom," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Iran should get a crystal-clear and unified message from Europe that the price of Iranian behavior will be rapidly growing isolation."

AJC also praised EU foreign ministers who, meeting in Brussels, approved today additional economic and travel sanctions on Iran. They will freeze the assets of 143 companies and ban 37 Iranian nationals described as "directly involved in Iran's nuclear activities" from entering the EU.

The EU, however, did not yet agree to go as far as Britain, which severed all dealings with Iran's Central Bank, a move AJC applauded. France has been laudably urging in recent days for collective EU action to follow the British example and also to stop oil imports from Iran.

"Stiff measures targeting Iran's Central Bank and energy sectors are absolutely essential in the race-against-time effort to stop the Iranian bomb," said Harris. "Such measures would hit Iran where it would feel it most."

SOURCE American Jewish Committee