Italy FM says G8 sanctions against Iran unlikely for now

Washington, 1 July (WashingtonTV)—Italy’s Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday that he did not think leaders from the Group of Eight [G8] would consider possible sanctions against Iran, when they meet at a summit in Italy next week.

On Monday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said that sanctions against Tehran would be discussed.

Referring to US President Barack Obama’s vow to give Iran until the end of the year to prove it is serious about nuclear talks, Frattini said: “If President Obama extended his hand to Iran until the end of December, I don’t think we can pull it back before December.”

“There is an extended hand, but not for an undetermined amount of time,” he added, according to AFP.

Speaking to reporters in Rome after briefing parliament on the situation in Iran, Frattini predicted that the protests in that country over the disputed presidential election results will continue.

“I am convinced they will continue. What is important is that the right to protest should be guaranteed and that those who do protest are no subjected to violence,” he was quoted by Italy’s ANSA news agency as saying.

Frattini told lawmakers that Italy respected Iran as a sovereign state. However, he said that “the continued violence, the expulsion of diplomats and the arrests of embassy personnel warrant a firm reaction.”

Sources: Agence France-Presse, ANSA news agency

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