A week of sanctions

Just ten days ago the UN Security Council has agreed on new sanctions against Iran. In the meantime the USA as well as the European Union have relaesed their own lists of sanctions.

The USA will expand their penalties on more than thirty companies and persons that are believed to help Iran with its nuclear program. It's a new effort on trying to isolate Iran commercially but even if the new list includes top Iranian banks as well as commanders of the Revolutionary Guard, the effect is not clear yet. When Treasury secretary Timothy F. Geithner announced the new measures on wednesday he told the press that Iran would always try to find ways to evade the sanctions and continued to say:

"So our effort must be ongoing and unrelenting. And we will keep working on ways to intensify financial pressure on Iran"

Adding to the UN and US sanctions fhe foreign ministers of the EU have agreed on new measures against Iran. The EU sanctions are targeting Iran's commerce and include a new provision that could hit its heart: European companies are no longer allowed to invest in the Iranian oil and gas industry.