Iran
© ISNA
Escalating retaliatory threats over the West's nuclear sanctions, Iran warned on Friday that it could terminate oil sales to Europe as early as next week, and it bluntly advised Arab oil producers that any attempt by them to replace Iranian exports would be considered unfriendly.

The threats came as Iranian officials repeated their willingness to re-engage in negotiations with the Western powers over Iran's uranium enrichment program, although the prospects for such a resumption appeared to grow more uncertain. Iran also was preparing to play host this weekend to a team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear monitor, which issued an incriminating report about Iran's uranium enrichment program two months ago.

That report elevated Western suspicions that Iran was laying the groundwork to build an atomic weapon despite Iran's repeated assertions that its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful ends.

The European Union decided on Monday to boycott Iranian oil as of July 1, its most aggressive step yet in a series of sanctions, coordinated with the United States, to punish Iran economically over its nuclear program. The delayed start of the boycott was meant, in part, to give European importers time to arrange alternative sources of supply and avoid sudden disruptions in the market that could cause prices to spike.

But Iran's parliament signaled on Thursday that it was considering legislation that would immediately stop oil sales to Europe to retaliate for the planned boycott, and that the European buyers of Iran's oil would suffer mightily if such a measure were passed.

On Friday, a senior Iranian lawmaker, Hossein Ibrahimi, sought to raise the pressure further, telling Iran's Fars News Agency that the legislation would be debated and approved in Parliament on Sunday and "could halt exports of oil to the European Union as early as next week."

Another legislator, Moayed Hosseini Sadr, was quoted by Fars as saying that passage of the legislation would make Europe "understand the power of Iran."

The Iranians also directed some anger at other Middle East oil producers, notably Saudi Arabia, that have signaled in recent days that they have the ability to compensate for any shortfall in the market because of an absence of oil from Iran, the world's fourth-largest exporter. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said in remarks reported by the Mehr News Agency "if any country takes such a decision it will not be regarded by Iran as a friendly move."

International oil markets appeared to shrug off the news, with benchmark prices changing little.