Global Security Newswire

The parliament of Iran said it is poised to endorse legislation for halting petroleum sales to specific European Union member nations before the 27-nation bloc fully implements a ban on Iranian oil imports later this year, Iran's Press TV reported on Tuesday (see GSN, Feb. 7).

European Union nations last month finalized a six-month time line for prohibiting petroleum purchases from Iran as part of a wider international effort to curb Iranian activities that could support nuclear weapons development, according to previous reporting. Tehran insists its atomic activities are have no military component.

The proposed pre-emptive measures have been addressed in talks within the Iranian legislature's national security and foreign policy committee, and Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi has discussed the possible restrictions on roughly 200,000 barrels of petroleum with representatives of France and the Netherlands as well as three additional European envoys, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said.

The two legislative proposals including the restrictions would establish a grace period of 10 days for Europe, Larijani said, adding parliament members are committed to responding as soon as possible (Press TV, Feb.7).

A declaration in favor of the restrictions has received backing from more than  two-thirds of the 290-member legislature, the Associated Press quoted an Iranian radio report as saying on Wednesday (Associated Press I/Boston Globe, Feb. 8).

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday addressed the Iranian nuclear standoff in what Jerusalem's top diplomat described as a "very good" meeting in Washington, Haaretz reported.

The Israeli minister later joined discussions with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.).

"We are waiting for Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions and we express our appreciation for the support of Israel," Lieberman said. "We appreciate the very crucial decision of sanctions against Iran, and we continue to monitor it closely" (Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz, Feb. 8).

The Obama administration this week ordered a freeze on any Iranian government and central bank holdings under U.S. jurisdiction (see GSN, Feb. 6).

Addressing if the economic penalties against Iran are now sufficient, McCain said: "Obviously, no, because Iran has not renounced their path towards the acquisition of a nuclear weapon, so they're not doing enough."

"We are pleased to see increasing sanctions, but so far the Iranians have not been deterred from their course," Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying.

The Israeli official also held discussions with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), and he was slated to participate in meetings with additional top lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) (Agence France-Presse I/Now Lebanon, Feb. 7).

Analysts in Israel suggested the government's allusions to a potential attack on Iran are part of a deliberate effort to prompt specific responses from Tehran and other governments, AFP reported on Wednesday (Agence France-Presse II/Spacedaily.com, Feb. 8).

Some specialists suggested Israeli military action against Iran is more possible in light of the U.N. Security Council's paralysis in responding to violence in Syria, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Tuesday.

“Violence begets violence, and if Syria sinks into a civil war, which seems all the more likely now, Israel could see the growing instability as cover or as an added incentive to act," said Michael Doyle, a former U.N. insider now with Columbia University. "That’s all the more true if the Security Council is nonfunctional” (Howard LaFranchi, Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 7).

Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi on Wednesday said his country "is fully able to deliver retaliatory strikes on the United States anywhere in the world" following a potential strike, Reuters reported (Vladimir Soldatkin, Reuters I, Feb. 8).

The head of Hezbollah in Lebanon on Tuesday said Tehran would not request that his organization lash back against a potential Israeli strike on Iranian atomic installations, AP reported.

"There is speculation about what would happen if Israel bombed Iran's nuclear facilities," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said. "I tell you that the Iranian leadership will not ask Hezbollah to do anything. On that day, we will sit, think and decide what we will do" (Bassem Mroue, Associated Press II/ABC News, Feb. 7).

In new signs that Western economic penalties are affecting Iranian business, Malaysia has ended palm oil sales to Iran and Chinese merchants have said they would curb acquisitions of unrefined iron from the Middle Eastern nation, Reuters reported on Wednesday. JX Nippon Oil and Energy, Japan's largest petroleum refinery, has announced plans to reduce daily purchases of Iranian oil by 10,000 barrels (Koswanage/Cho, Reuters II, Feb. 8).