The international community should tighten the noose on Tehran to the point of threatening the Iranian regime's survival if it does not relinquish its "mad" nuclear ambitions, the defence secretary, Philip Hammond, says.
In the most forthright indication yet of the escalating sanctions policy ambitions from a senior elected western official, Hammond warned in an interview with the Observer that there would be "more pain on the streets", predicting "potentially regime-threatening disruption and dissent", which he said would pose a clear threat to the government.
His comments come before a meeting of EU ministers on 15 October, when the UK, France and Germany will push for tightening sanctions on Iran amid moves in the US to do the same. Officials have said that would include further sanctions on Iran's financial institutions and its energy sector, while moves to tighten maritime controls on Iranian shipping were also being considered.
Initiatives that have been discussed, according to Hammond and other sources, include the joint imposition by the US and the EU of a de facto trade embargo that would block all export and import transactions through Iran's banking system. Only oil-related deals are now covered by sanctions. » | Toby Helm and Peter Beaumont | Sunday, October 07, 2012
