sanctions and several intense rounds of negotiations hadn’t produced any progress on Iran’s nuclear program.
The “unilateral US sanctions against Syria and Iran are increasingly becoming extra-territorial in nature and are touching upon the interests of Russian business,” AFP reported Lavrov as saying after he met with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
On the other hand, the French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said a new round of sanctions will be proposed in time for the UN General Assembly later in September and will target “financial, commercial and oil aspects” of the Iranian economy.
His German counterpart Guido Westerwelle said the EU was expecting to implement the new round of sanctions around October 15. Westerwelle said he was “very worried about the lack of progress in the nuclear negotiations,” adding that “any talks and negotiations that only amount to delay” is unacceptable.
Westerwelle, who has been German foreign minister since 2009, has been part of the frustratingly slow nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.
He injected a strong sense of urgency about the nuclear program and underscored Germany’s strong commitment to more sanctions. “If they do not come back to the table, then the next round will probably be necessary. This is not something for next year, we are talking about next weeks,” he said.
“Sanctions are necessary and soon. I can’t see there is really a constructive will on the Iranian side for substantial talks,” the foreign minister stressed.