Iran Cuts Oil to Britain and France

The EU sanctions, which were imposed last month, included a freeze of the country’s central bank assets and an oil embargo set to begin in July.

Iran cut crude exports to Britain and France on Sunday. The Iranian government appears to be targeting the two countries in an effort to punish them for recent sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Britain and France have led the effort to pass tougher sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program.

The halting of exports appears to be part of Iran’s preemptive reaction to the sanctions.

In addition to this announcement, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported that the National Iranian Oil Company has sent ultimatums to European refineries, telling them they must either sign long-term contracts or be cut off from Iranian oil.

The news agency did not identify which countries received the ultimatums, but Spain, Italy and Greece are among the biggest importers of oil from Iran. The 27 nations in the EU purchase about 18 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

Iran is not taking its sanctions lying down. However, do not expect the European Union to cave in to Iranian demands. The Trumpet stands by its forecasts that Iran will continue to push, but the European Union will ultimately push much, much harder.