EU Foreign Ministers agreed on Monday to impose an embargo on all Iranian petroleum products and stop all new contracts involving Iranian crude.
There is a deadline of July 2012 to end existing contracts.
The EU has also banned all transactions with Iran’s Central Bank in an effort to pressure Iran to follow international demands regarding its nuclear program.
An EU official reported that the EU states will review the embargo before May to evaluate whether the sanctions are effective, and also to see if EU member states have been successful in filling their crude-oil needs through alternative channels.
Italy, Spain and Greece are among the EU countries currently dependent on Iranian oil imports.
