iranian leaders dismiss an embargo on their oil. the european union is trying to starve iran of the main source of revenue. eu slapped an embargo on iranian oil. they want to cut fund to go at the ran's nuclear program. they want to pressure iran to

comply with u.n. resolutions. >> i want to stress, however, that sanctions are not an end in themselves. i have often talked about this being part of a twin track approach, that the purpose of sanctions is to put pressure on iran to come back to the negotiating table. >> eu countries will stop importing iranian crude and oil products and will freeze assets of iran's centralbank, and stop some financial transactions. they say the bank provides funds for the country's nuclear program. the embargo will not be enforced until july. representatives of greece and italy asked for the delay because their countries rely heavily on iranian oil. the eu gradually escalated economic sanctions against iran in the past six years. the ban on crude oil is the most severe action to date. iranian leaders reacted sharply. they say sanctions haven't

convinced them in the past and they won't now. we have a report from tehran. >> iran foreign ministry spokesperson posted a statement on the website. he says the eu -- imposing economic sanctions is illogical. will not stop iran from exercising its rights. the government yet to announce -- the council made no notable response to western neighbor deployment, through the strait of hormuz sunday.

>> leaders of france, germany, britain say they're willing to negotiate, but only if the iranians are ready to talk seriously. they released a joint statement after the eu approved the sanctions. the leaders call on iran to suspend the nuclear development immediately and fully abide by its international obligations. their statement stresses iran is a threat to peace and security in the region. it says they will unite behind strong measures to undermine the iranian regime's ability to fund the nuclear program. the strait of hormuz is the only waterway to the open ocean for many areas around the persian gulf. we have a report. it is still busy, at least for now. >> reporter: the persian gulf

was busy with oil tankers from all over the world. they have facilities near the strait of hormuz. iran does huge exercises in the area late last mopt. iran has test launched the latest missile to show off. the united states has deployed a second aircraft carrier in the area. countries in the gulf built up military forces in case of tension with iran. the united arab emirates signed a contract to abide the u.s. missile receptors. they want to fooi more f-15 fighters from the united states. >> they're increasingly buying

more arms as well as their recent experience in libya taught them to use air power effectively. this is a nice combination of attributes to face off against iran. >> the big question is how gulf states expose oil if the strait of hormuz is closed. the uae is building a pipeline to by pass the strait, but that won't be finished for six months. >> i'll do everything i can to keep oil production going. >> 90% of japan's oil passes through the strait of hormuz. japanese businesses are keeping a close eye on developments. this company is involved with production of oil in the uae for japan. even if strait of hormuz is open, any more military tension will hit the company's business.

>> closure of the strait would create a situation beyond any company's control. an accidental incident could trigger something that nobody wants to happen. tension in the west over the iranian nuclear program is at the critical limit. the central artery for oil global transport is at stake. >> all of this is driving up oil prices. ai joins us for that story. good morning. >> good morning to you. the eu's approval of the embargo against iranian oil is effecting oil markets. crude oil markets soared monday, topping $100 a barrel. buy orders gained momentum.

the rise came on mounting concern the eu's decision will fuel tensions over the strait of hormuz, a key waterway for oil tankers. crude oil futures dropped to the $75 level per barrel in october, after europe's credit problems dampen investors' risk appetite. oil prices rebounded on speculation demand would rise on the back of a positive u.s. economic outlook. separately, the head of the international monetary fund, christine will he guard asked the your peep union to boost the size of the rescue fund to battle the region's financial crisis. >> the outlook imf will release tomorrow and only tomorrow, we will lower forecast in most parts of the world. >> in her speech in berlin monday, she said that the world economy faced a defining moment. she then urged the eu to

contribute to a bigger bailout fund that will be established from its current balance of 500 billion euros. she pointed out a possibility that financial turmoil in europe could worsen as costs to repay debts are expected to expand in italy and spain. she also urged eu members to consider should go the unified euro bond to establish a system that would strengthen their financial integration and risk sharing. now on wall street overnight, the dow ended slightly lower, snapping four days of gains. to see how stocks in japan open this tuesday, ramin mellegard is at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning to you, ai. let's have a look at the opening levels here right away for the nikkei and topix. marginally higher for both indexes there. let's not forget, nikkei ended lower monday, breaking a four day winning streak. not helped with asian indexes.

they were closed for chinese new year. investors aren't expecting much direction from asian markets. however, market direction may come from currency and commodity markets. we have seen the euro gaining a touch against the dollar and the yen on hopes of a new restructuring deal for greece's private bondholders and also we did see gold prices hit a six week high on the drop on the dollar. despite what we saw in crude oil prices as well, surrounding the embargo against iran. let's look at the currency levels this tuesday morning. the euro yen trading around lower 100 levels, and also on the hopes of restructuring debt plan for greece. let's not forget this time yesterday, it was around 99, lower 99 yen levels, and this time last week it was 97.04.

the euro has come back a touch. we will keep track of commodity related stocks with airlines, shipping and trading houses as well on the gains in commodity prices. ai? >> ramin, we will check on the eurozone debt deal as they meet this week. we have market moving events in the united states. >> definitely. the federal reserve meeting tuesday and wednesday. a lot of market players keep to see ben bernanke, the chairman's news conference wednesday. if he alludes to any moves on the interest rates. and also we're going to have earnings from yahoo! and later apple. a lot of focus on iphone shipments. and politically, president obama is giving a state of the union address. a lot of focus on the u.s. economy, ai. >> it will be a major topic heading into the elections. >> definitely. we're going to see how all of

that plays into japanese markets as well. as i said, not too much direction from asian indexes this week. that's all for now. back to you. >> thanks a lot for that. that was ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. let's also look at other market figures now. >> that's the latest in business. back to catherine. >> thanks very much. a team of experts from the international atomic agency has gun to review results of the safety tests for two halted nuclear reactors. the team is to inform the

government about whether the results and the test methods were appropriate. the ten-member team started a nine-day inspection on monday. the experts are to examine the results of computer simulations for the reactors at the nuclear plant in central japan to determine whether the tests were carried out in line with the international standards. >> and the objective of the mission o'is to review the safety review process for the safety of existing power reactor facilities. >> reporter: the team is to visit the plant on wednesday and thursday to inspect its anti-tsunami measures and verify the government's recent announcement that the tests were appropriate. 90% of japan's nuclear reactors are offline due to concerns that they could be vulnerable to major earthquakes and tsunami. passing the safety checks is a prerequisite for the idled reactors to resume operation. japan's nuclear safety agency says it will finalize it's assessment of the two reactors in early february after

receiving the agency's report at the end of this month. tokyo electric power company will shut down a reactor and this will leave only four reactors on line. the company, tepco, will switch off the number five reactor at the nuclear power plant. the plant's number 6 reactor is the only one providing power to the tokyo metropolitan area and the company will boost the capacity of the thermal power plants and as companies and households to save electricity. tepco is working to restart some of its reactors. it has submitted the results of stress tests on two reactors at the plant. but the local government has refused to allow the reactors back online. it says there has not been an adequate investigation of the fukushima accident.

the japanese government will launch a new agency to oversee the reconstruction efforts in the areas devastated by the march 11th disaster. >> translator: the new government should provide a one-stop service to disaster-hit municipalities. the agency must play authoritative role in these efforts and ask the ministers to fully support it. >> the agency will be set up on february 10th with headquarters in tokyo. it will have a total of 250 staff. there will be bureaus in iwate miyagi and fukushima prefectures and six municipal branches in those areas. neighboring prefectures will each have a liaison office. the government task force agreed on the outline of a bill to provide special assistance to fukushima prefecture, the site of the nuclear accident at the power plant. the bill will create new industries in the prefecture

such as a research and development hub for advanced medical treatments. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan, post march 11th. we have two segments, offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi process and "the road ahead." now for the latest in sumo. welcome to the sports report. we sum up the new years sumo. baruto got the championship friday. came into the final day like a man with something to prove.

so did his opponent. a perfect record would be the way to silence any doubters. on the other hand, hakuho had to show he is a force to be reckoned with despite three losses. hakuho gets baruto's left arm. he makes sure he won't forget who he's dealing with. baruto ends up with one loss, still leaves with a smile. baruto's mother came from estonia to watch him receive the emperor's cup. his wife was also there.

27-year-old baruto is the ninth person outside japan to win the title. in addition to his success with techniques, baruto is a crowd pleaser. he always seems to like coming to work. >> i am from estonia. i will use my power to win. >> he excels in powerful thrusts and stirring throws. he comes at opponents with

enormous strep enormous strength. back in estonia, he first devoted himself to judo. he came to japan in 2004 at the age of 19 to test himself in sumo. two years later, he won a tournament without dropping a bout. in 2010, he climbed his way up to the second highest rank, ozeki. he is all business in the ring. afterwards, he is all smiles. with baruto, what you see is

what you get, and that's what many fans want. in estonia, people were ecsta c ecstatic. >> he used to practice at a gymnasium here which

[ applause ] >> can baruto live up to fans' high expectations? here is who won special prizes in the new years tournament.

he received a prize for using crafty maneuvers to get nine wins. looking ahead. the ranks for next tournament comes out february 27th. spring tourney gets under way march 11th in osaka. last year, the march bash a was counselled in the wake of a scandal. for those that love sumo, march can't come soon enough. that's it for today's sports. >> thapgs very much. commuters in tokyo are trudging to work in patches of snow and ice. let's get the weather picture for here and elsewhere. turned out to be a winter evening in tokyo last night. let's look at how much snow the city got. here is video from last night.

plenty of snowfall started falling in the later hours of monday. this is about 11:00 p.m. right in downtown tokyo, in fact. pretty unusual event to see this much snow. about four centimeters of accumulation was recorded in the evening hours. that's the most we've seen in the city in about six years. it did cause slippery conditions. and there have been numerous accidents reported already. this morning's commute is also going to be proving slippery. keep an eye out on your road conditions. now, right now, all of the snow clouds across tokyo are heading out. we continue to see more precipitation, winter precipitation for the western flank of the country. it is going to stay snowy throughout the day. areas here getting 77 centimeters in the past 24 hours. you may see more snowfall today. watch out. for the prask side, including tokyo, sunshine returns during the daytime. in the evening, we may see a

round of lighter snowfall. nothing as heavy as last night. as we pull back, we see more dry conditions continue across the korean peninsula and the majority of china. there is light precipitation popping up here in the southeast. that could include some snow flurries, but they remain fairly light. as for temperatures, 12 for hong kong. 4 in shanghai. and seoul looks cold, minus four. tokyo's high up to 7 degrees, but it will be a cold morning. as we look to the americas, turned out to be quite stormy in the deep south sunday night. it is this cold front that was creating all of those strong to severe storms. it is on its way out today, but looks like renewed moisture will impact southern texas. this is another area to watch for potential for some stormy conditions tonight. as for eerp canada, freezing rain, ice and snow spread to the

area. new england states, too, will see more winter precipitation. for the four corners region, that snow is going to be dissipating in the next 24 hours. the pacific northwest continues to stay quite wet. vancouver, up to 9 tuesday. meep while, 6 for seattle, and up to the east coast, teens for cities like new york and d.c. and finally, a look at europe. it stays unsettled for a lot of continental europe. we have a series of lows and frontal systems in place. icy, wintry conditions will impact you here. there's going to be renewed moisture heading in across the british isles and dropping into france and the lowcountry as well. in the mediterranean, another low is bringing showers and even upper elevation snow to the balance can peninsula. turkey as well as southern italy. highs on tuesday. 9 for london and paris, 4 in vienna.

minus 2 for kiev. that's the weather conditions for now. here is your three day outlook.

our lead story. the european union is trying to starve iran of the main source of revenue. eu slapped an embargo on iranian oil. members want to cut funding to iran's nuclear program. they want to pressure iran to comply with u.n. resolutions. >> i want to stress, however, that sanctions are not an end in themselves. i have often talked about this being part of a twin track approach, that the purpose of sanctions is to put pressure on iran to come back to the negotiating table. >> eu countries will stop importing iranian crude and oil products and will freeze assets of iran's central bank, and stop

some financial transactions. they say the bank provides funds for the country's nuclear program. the embargo will not be enforced until july. representatives of greece and italy asked for the delay because their countries rely heavily on iranian oil. the eu gradually escalated economic sanctions against iran in the past six years. the ban on crude oil is the most severe action to date. iranian leaders reacted sharply. they say sanctions haven't convinced them in the past and they won't now. they call on iran to suspend nuclear development immediately and fully abide by international obligations. their statement stresses iran is a threat to peace and security in the region. it says they will unite behind strong measures to undermine the iranian regime's ability to fund

its nuclear program. that's all for this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do stay with us. we'll be back with more updates we'll be back with more updates at the top of the next hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com