The leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Monday called on Tehran to immediately suspend its nuclear activities after the EU slapped an embargo on Iran's oil exports as part of tough new sanctions.

"/> The leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Monday called on Tehran to immediately suspend its nuclear activities after the EU slapped an embargo on Iran's oil exports as part of tough new sanctions.

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IRAN

Leaders urge end to Iran nuclear activities

The leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Monday called on Tehran to immediately suspend its nuclear activities after the EU slapped an embargo on Iran's oil exports as part of tough new sanctions.

“We call on Iran’s leadership immediately to suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and abide fully by its international obligations,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement.

“Our message is clear. We have no quarrel with the Iranian people. But the Iranian leadership has failed to restore international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme,” they said.

“We will not accept Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. Iran has so far had no regard for its international obligations and is already exporting and threatening violence around its region.”

The three leaders said “the door is open to Iran to engage in serious and meaningful negotiations about its nuclear programme.

“Until Iran comes to the table, we will be united behind strong measures to undermine the regime’s ability to fund its nuclear programme, and to demonstrate the cost of a path that threatens the peace and security of us all.”

The EU slapped an embargo on Iran’s oil exports as part of the package of new sanctions Monday aimed at blocking funds for Tehran’s suspect nuclear drive and pressing it to return to talks.

The oil ban, along with sanctions against Iran’s central bank and other measures, come amid mounting concerns of confrontation after the UN atomic agency reported Tehran was inching ever closer to building a nuclear bomb.

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SANCTIONS

Germany summons Belarus envoy over forced Ryanair landing

Germany said on Monday it had summoned the Belarusian ambassador over the forced landing of an airliner and detention of a critical journalist.

Germany summons Belarus envoy over forced Ryanair landing
A woman stands with a poster reading 'Where is Roman (Protasevich)?!' in the arrival area as passengers disembark from a Ryanair passenger plane from Athens, Greece, that was intercepted and diverted to Minsk on the same day by Belarus authorities. Photo: Petras Malukas/AFP

“The explanations of the Belarusian government for the forced landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk are absurd and not credible,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement.

“We need clarity on what really happened on board and on the ground,” he added, saying that ambassador Denis Sidorenko was expected at his ministry Monday evening.

Maas said Berlin also expected “clarity about the wellbeing” of the detained journalist, Roman Protasevich, and his girlfriend, saying both “must
be released immediately”.

He said a senior official at the ministry, Miguel Berger, would meet with Sidorenko, while EU leaders debate “consequences” at a summit in Brussels.

The Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying Protasevich was diverted while in Belarusian airspace over a supposed bomb threat.

Accompanied by a Belarusian fighter jet on the orders of strongman Alexander Lukashenko, the plane landed in Minsk where Protasevich, a
26-year-old who had been living in Lithuania, was arrested along with his Russian girlfriend.

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