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Sunday, May. 20, 2012 |  Syndicate content

Australia to follow EU lead on Iran sanctions

Page last updated at 05:54 GMT, Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 10:54 EST

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Reuters:

Australia will follow the European Union's lead in banning oil imports and imposing a range of other sanctions on Iran, Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday.

Rudd said later that Australian imports of Iranian oil were already "negligible."

"On the question of Iran, let me be absolutely clear (regarding) the actions taken in Brussels yesterday on sanctions by the European Union -- we in Australia will undertake precisely the same parallel action for Australia," he told reporters during a visit to London.

On Monday, the EU imposed a ban on Iranian oil imports from July in an effort to increase pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. The EU accounts for about 20 percent of Iranian oil exports.

EU governments also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and to ban all trade in diamonds, gold and other precious metals with the bank and other public bodies.

Read the whole story: Reuters

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