Tehran cuts oil exports to Greece and Spain

The government in Tehran has announced that it has halted oil exports to Greece and Spain, and confirmed that it is looking into taking similar action against Italy and Germany. These steps come ahead of a US and Western oil embargo set to be implemented against Iran on the 1st of July.

According to the Thursday edition of the Arab-Iranian newspaper, Kayhan, Iran described the decision to impose the embargo as a ‘failure’, asserting that it will backfire as oil is an indispensable strategic commodity in light of the economic crisis devastating the Euro Zone. Moreover, the faltering economic situation in the US has pushed Washington to lift sanctions in 11 countries which target institutions that contribute to the export of Iranian oil.

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The paper quoted the Iranian President, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, as saying, “The new oil embargo approved by the US and the EU will not yield results. We have reserves of foreign currency that enable us to administer the affairs of the country, even if we are unable to sell a single barrel of oil for the next two to three years.”

Hassan Ghafoor, a member of Iran’s Energy Committee, told Kayhan, “The world needs Iranian oil and cannot do without it.” He went on to say that under the suffocating current economic crisis, the West was incapable of finding alternatives to Iranian oil, and stressed that the possible rise in oil prices as a result of the embargo would lead to an aggravation of this crisis.

The newspaper reported that Iran is considered one of the world’s leading sources of energy, with control over 15 per cent of the world’s oil reserves.

Source: Quds Press Service