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UK halts business with Iran firms on nuclear fears
Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:03am EDT
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By Keith Weir
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain froze business ties with an Iranian bank and state-run shipping firm Monday, citing fears that they were involved in helping the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran dismissed the move and a separate U.S. warning that major powers would not wait forever for Tehran to prove it was not developing nuclear bombs, saying any threats or deadlines would have no impact.
The order applies to Bank Mellat and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, both of which have previously faced sanctions from the United States.
Making an order under counter-terrorism laws rather than U.N. sanctions, Britain said it was convinced that Iran's disputed nuclear program was a threat to its security.
"The Treasury is satisfied, as required by the Act, that activity in Iran that facilitates the development or production of nuclear weapons poses a significant risk to the national interests of the UK," Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry said in a written statement to parliament.
The Treasury said it welcomed recent talks between Iran and six world powers, including Britain, but said that action was needed now against the two businesses, accusing them of links to nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
Asked about the timing of the move, a Treasury spokesman said "When the government identifies such activities, it is committed to curtailing them."
The action follows criticism of Iran from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband at a news conference in London Sunday.
Iran, which says its nuclear work is for peaceful electricity generation, agreed at a meeting in Geneva on October 1 to allow U.N. inspectors access to a newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qom.
The Islamic state has repeatedly rejected demands to halt its sensitive nuclear work, despite three rounds of U.N. sanctions since 2006. Progress in the Geneva talks was seen as heading off calls for an immediate round of tougher sanctions.
CLINTON CALL
Iranian suspicions of London date back to British imperial rule in the Middle East and Iran warned Britain that its latest move was likely to rebound on it.
"If the British government decided to impose sanctions against Iran this would show that Britain is getting far from the realities of the current world and such a trend will be against the interests of the British people," Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a media adviser to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told Reuters.
Britain does far less business with Iran than other European countries such as Germany, Italy and France. Treasury officials did not have any details on how much commerce there was with the two Iranian companies it had targeted.
Visiting London Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said the world would not wait indefinitely for evidence that Iran was prepared to live up to its international obligations. Continued...
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