Iran will not halt oil exports in an escalating dispute with the West over its atomic programme, its oil minister said today.
Iran's Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri at the beginning of a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in OPEC's Vienna headquarters
"We are not mixing politics with the economic decisions on this issue. We are not mixing oil with politics," Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri said at the start of an Opec meeting that will keep output near maximum levels. "Iran will not stop exports."
He was speaking a few hours after the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council agreed in London that the UN's nuclear watchdog should report to the council this week on what Iran must do to co-operate.
The dispute over Iran's decision to restart its atomic programme has raised the possibility of a disruption to supplies from Opec's second biggest producer and pushed the crude oil price towards its end-August record high of $70.85 a barrel.
The oil minister of fellow Opec member Libya said any move to refer Iran to the Security Council would have a "very big effect" and send prices higher still.
"Most effect now in the market is because of Iran, Nigeria, Iraq and others - it's not because of the fundamentals," Fathi Omar Bin Shatwan said.
Iran says it wants to use nuclear energy to produce electricity, but the United States and its European allies have doubts. Opec member Venezuela, a big supplier of oil to the United States, has said it will support Iran.