The widely anticipated Council Regulation implementing the latest round of European Union sanctions against Iran has now been published. Regulation No. 267/2012 came into force upon its publication on 24 March 2012 and gives effect to the Decision of the Council of the European Union of 23 January (2012/35/CFSP). That Decision provided for significant further sanctions on Iran - including a phased embargo of Iranian crude oil imports to the European Union - in response to continuing concerns over the Iranian nuclear programme.

This Update summarises the key features of the new Regulation which, with appendices, runs to some 112 pages. Given that the new provisions replace Regulation 961/2010 (which is repealed), a significant proportion of the Regulation restates measures that were already in force against Iran. The most important new measures can be summarised as follows:

Prohibition on the purchase, import or transport from Iran of crude oil, petroleum products and petrochemical products