France favours new sanctions on Iran

France is pushing for EU sanctions against Iran over its contested nuclear programme that would target the credit, insurance and financial sectors, diplomatic officials said today.

European officials have drawn up a draft text that could give the 27-member EU bloc a parallel track of sanctions against Tehran alongside an effort toward new sanctions at the United Nations, officials said.

Two UN resolutions have failed to persuade Iran to stop the nuclear programme that Tehran insists is aimed at producing energy for civilian use. Many in the West fear the plan masks bomb-making ambitions.

The UN Security Council was set to take up efforts toward a new resolution next week, but France will work “under the European framework” if it deems those results insufficient, foreign ministry spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said today.

“We don’t want to wait until the end of the year” to reach new penalties against Iran, she said at a briefing.

The new EU initiative, which is still in its early phases and could require months of negotiation, highlights increasing international concerns about Tehran’s programme of uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power plants and material used in nuclear weapons.

The officials said the EU sanctions could target a list of Iranian companies, mainly in the credit, insurance and financial sectors, to further crimp their access to cash abroad.

UN efforts to reach new sanctions against Iran are focusing on possible new travel bans against some Iranian officials, broader economic sanctions, and a weapons embargo – but China and Russia have resisted stiff penalties sought by the West.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that France has asked major companies such as oil giant Total and Gaz de France to refrain from investing in Iran. He also said the world community must be prepared for “the worst” – the possibility of war – if the nuclear stand-off continues. The remarks provoked criticism in Iran and elsewhere.