European foreign ministers agreed today to recommend a package of additional sanctions against Iran over that country's disputed nuclear program, according to AP. The move came after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton invited Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili to discuss the nuclear issue. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the new set of sanctions go beyond those recently adopted by the U.N. Security Council. Westerwelle told reporters the new sanctions would focus on areas of trade, especially on so-called dual-use items which could be utilized as part of the nuclear program. They would include further restrictions on trade insurance and financial transactions, and would target Iran's transport sector particularly its shipping and air cargo operators. Some investments in the oil industry would also be affected, Westerwelle said without elaborating further. «Some (European) companies ask what does that mean for their business, but what would nuclear bombs in the hands of Iran cost us,» Westerwelle asked. «We have to contribute our own European measures in addition to the security council sanctions to press Iran back to the negotiation table. If EU heads of government meeting Thursday endorse the measures adopted in Luxembourg, these will be passed on to government experts to work out the specifics of which companies and products would be targeted and how.
