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US sanctions will not improve relations with Iran, says UK MP

By IRNA,

London : Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn has criticised US President Barack Obama for imposing extraterritorial sanctions against Iran, suggesting that they will be counter-productive.

“Sanctions against Iran are not going to bring about any improvement in relations. They’re going to make it worse,” warned Corbyn, who also expressed hopes that the EU would be more independent and not follow suit.

“The US is going way beyond what the UN is trying to do,” he told IRNA. “It seems to me to be building up to isolating and attacking Iran which is wholly wrong.”

Corbyn, who has been an MP for Islington North in London since 1983, voted against Britain’s joining the US war against Iraq. He is also a vice-chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

“There should be dialogue rather than sanctions against Iran,” he said. “I do not subscribe to the sanctions policy.”

The 61-year old left-wing MP did not believe that the EU would follow the US in imposing sanctions that have reportedly extended to BP in refusing to refuel Iranian airliners.

“The EU has far more economic relations with Iran anyway and maybe the EU should think about that and do something more independent,” he said.

Corbyn agreed with other MPs, including former prime minister Gordon Brown’s non-proliferation adviser, Baroness Williams, who have criticised the West’s dismissive response to the Tehran Declaration with Turkey and Brazil as a missed opportunity for improving relations.

“The role of all Middle East countries, including Turkey is very important,” he said. “It might be that pressure, particular from Turkey might have an effect on relations between the West and Iran.”
“Turkey is the only Nato country in region and has traditionally had good relations with the West. Now it appears to be asserting itself much more and developing a much more independent foreign policy,” the backbench MP said.

After just returning from Ankara, he welcomed the coming visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to Britain and his meeting with Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Corbyn is also a staunch critic of the West’s double standards in ignoring Israel’s arsenal of nuclear warheads. He saw last month NPT review conference’s inclusion of an initiative for a nuclear-free Middle East as “important.”

On Israel’s recent attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in international waters, he said it was “obviously wrong and to be a crime, whichever way you look at it.”