EU to impose sanctions on Iran if UN fails in action: Finnish FM

HELSINKI, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The European Union will seek new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program should the United Nations fail to take any actions, Finnish foreign minister said Saturday.

"I think we'll be able to convince Russia and China and I'm quite hopeful that we'll get something in the Security Council," said Alexander Stubb in Lapland in northern Finland, where he is hosting a gathering of foreign ministers from the EU and Turkey.

"But failing that, we'll just have to do it unilaterally and by unilateral I mean the EU directly on Iran," he was quoted as saying by local media.

Britain, France, the United States and other western countries have been pushing for a fourth round of sanctions to restrict Iran's nuclear efforts, which they say are aimed at developing nuclear weapons.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purpose.

Adoption of a UN Security Council resolution requires at least nine votes from all 15 members and no veto from the five permanent members, namely, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

Although some EU countries still have reservations about new sanctions against Iran, Stubb said there is "enough consensus" to secure support for a unilateral EU move. He added that details may be finalized as early as March 22 at an EU foreign ministers meeting.

"Time is running out, so I'm sure this is going to be something, if the UN Security Council fails, that we'll deal with when we have our EU foreign ministers' meeting on the 22nd," he said. "That's when we'll get into the detail (of possible sanctions) ... There is consensus enough."