US moves to tighten sanctions even more

Meetings: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

EPA/SCANPIX

By Vahe Petrossian

 02 March 2012 01:54 GMT

THE US is moving into a new phase of unprecedented oil and financial sanctions against Iran by starving it of revenues but saying it will show flexibility in some “unique” cases such as Japan.

The application of the tougher sanctions will be partly dictated by estimates of their impact on global crude supplies and prices.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Senate panel that US intelligence continues to believe Iran has not yet decided to pursue a nuclear weapon. Nevertheless, the US is “implementing the new Iran sanctions aggressively”, with “a very clear-eyed view of Iran and Iranian objectives… to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapons”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who has threatened unilateral military action against Iran, was due in Washington for…

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