Yesterday
Iran ordered a halt to its oil sales to British & French oil companies in a
move seen as retaliation against tightening European Union (EU) sanctions, as a
team of United Nations IAEA inspectors flew to Tehran to press Iran over its
disputed nuclear program. Oil prices rose above $120 a barrel today; this is
seen as the outcome of yesterdays ban by Iran.
The
European Union enraged Tehran last month when it decided to impose a boycott on
its oil from July 1. Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, responded by
threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the main Gulf oil shipping lane.
The ban will have little impact
on the UK, which has not imported any oil from Iran for the past six months.
Iran has been supplying 75,000 barrels of oil a day to France. But it was seen
as a warning shot to other EU nations that are bigger consumers of Iranian oil,
including Italy, Spain and Greece.
China rebuked Iran's move. China
has repeatedly called for talks over Tehran's efforts to enrich its own
uranium, which Western countries suspect is aimed at obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran has said the enrichment is for power generation.
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