The European Union has suspended a range of sanctions against Iran after Tehran began implementing a deal to curb its nuclear program.
"As part of the implementation of the Joint Plan of Action agreed by Iran and the E3/EU+3, which enters into force today, the Council today suspended certain EU restrictive measures against Iran for a period of six months," a statement said on Monday.
The suspension was agreed by foreign ministers meeting in Brussels for regular monthly talks after they received word from the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, that Tehran had stuck to its side of a November deal to cut back its nuclear program.
The new measures notably include the suspension of a 2012 ban on insuring and transporting Iranian crude oil that caused a more than 50 per cent drop in Tehran's oil exports.
European insurers up until then had accounted for 90 per cent of coverage for deliveries of Iranian oil anywhere in the world.
The EU also will suspend bans on trade in gold, precious metals and petrochemical products while increasing a ceiling on financial transfers not related to remaining sanctions.
Like the United States, the EU has promised to impose no new sanctions in the next six months, the first stage in efforts to find a lasting solution over fears that Iran is developing a nuclear bomb.
Any new contracts struck with Iranian firms should not go beyond the six-month period.
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