Rice warns firms more Iran sanctions may come

Berlin, Jan 21: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said companies should beware of doing business with Iran and think about the possibility of more sanctions.

''I think people ought to think about the risk of doing business with Iran,'' Rice told Der Spiegel magazine.

''I think people ought to think about the risk of further sanctions. The United States is clearly sanctioning Iranian banks and our laws are very tough on those who deal with banks that we have sanctioned.'' The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution on December 23 at the behest of the United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany. The resolution gave Iran 60 days to suspend nuclear fuel-enrichment activity.

European Union foreign ministers meet tomorrow in Brussels to consider how to ensure the sanctions are fully implemented, government and diplomatic sources said on Friday.

The UN sanctions resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials to Iran, freezes financial assets of those associated with the nuclear programme and asks countries to pass on information about the whereabouts of individuals on the list.

The EU may expand the list of people linked to Tehran's nuclear programme targeted by the UN resolution, sources said.

The US Treasury has also named Iran's state-owned Bank Sepah as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and no US company or citizen can do business with it.

Separately, European diplomats have said the United States is already thinking about next steps, one of which may be an oil embargo against Iran and US officials have been consulting allies for months about this possibility.

Asked about what kinds of sanctions Washington would like imposed if Tehran ignores the 60-day deadline, Rice told Der Spiegel: ''We'll talk to the allies about what do in the next round.'' Rice repeated Washington considers Iran a troublemaker in neighbouring Iraq by supporting insurgents with money and bombs.

But she insisted Washington was not looking for an escalation of the conflict with Tehran.

''We are not trying to escalate this. Our plan is to try to respond to Iranian activity that is harming us,'' Rice said in Der Spiegel in an interview published today.

She also repeated Washington was not interested in talking with Iran and Syria about the future of Iraq.

''If the Iranians and the Syrians wish to support stability in Iraq, there are plenty of ways for them to do it,'' Rice said.

''The only reason to talk to us would be to extract a price, and that's not diplomacy, that's extortion.''

REUTERS
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