In major blow, EU agrees embargo on Iranian crude

BRUSSELS/TEHRAN, (Reuters) – European  governments have agreed in principle to ban imports of Iranian  oil, EU diplomats said today, dealing a potentially heavy  blow to Tehran that crowns new Western economic sanctions  imposing real pain just months before an Iranian election.
The prospective embargo from the European Union, along with  tough U.S. financial measures signed into law by President  Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve, form a concerted Western  campaign to impose sanctions over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran says its nuclear programme is strictly peaceful, but  Western countries say a November U.N. report shows it has sought  to build an atomic bomb. Talks between Tehran and major powers  broke down a year ago.
Diplomats said EU envoys had held talks on Iran in the last  days of December, and that any objections to an oil embargo had  been dropped – notably from crisis-hit Greece which gets a third  of its oil from Iran, relying on Tehran’s lenient financing.  Spain and Italy are also big buyers.
“A lot of progress has been made,” one EU diplomat said,  speaking on condition of anonymity. “The principle of an oil  embargo is agreed. It is not being debated any more.”
The embargo will force Tehran to find other buyers for oil.   EU countries buy about 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Iran’s  2.6 billion bpd in exports, making the bloc collectively the  second largest market for Iranian crude after China.