After attending a meeting of the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany, Britain and the European Union, Kouchner told reporters the potential measures ranged from financial and investment freezes to travel and visa bans, an arms embargo and possible restrictions on oil trading.
“Some sanctions we were in agreement on, others we were not,” he said, noting that senior officials of the major powers would meet again to refine the list for inclusion in a draft U.N. Security Council to be discussed in November.
Asked whether some kind of restriction on oil trading was on the list, he said: “I didn’t say that it was not. A lot of things are on the list.”
He also said he would write this weekend to France’s EU partners calling for a discussion on European sanctions on Iran at the next foreign ministers’ meeting on October 15.
Kouchner said he expected that some European states would initially reject the idea of taking separate sanctions outside the U.N. framework, but he wanted to start the debate.
“I know some will absolutely be on board and some are not. Some countries have no relations with Iran, no business or economic relationship with the country,” he noted.
Germany, France and Italy are the Islamic republic’s biggest trading partners, but trade and investment has fallen over the last two years as the standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions has escalated.
