Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi
After nuclear negotiations in Istanbul on April 14, which was described as positive, Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) are scheduled to meet again in Baghdad on May 23.
Qasemi said the Oil Ministry has "officially" cut crude exports to Britain and France, however, he added a stop of Iran's oil export to refiners in Greece, Spain, and Germany is not "official". He added that Greece is paying a large sum of its oil debts to Iran.
The minister went on to say that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) has signed new contracts with some customers so that if oil export to Europe is halted completely Iran will have alternative buyers.
EU postpones Iran oil ban
Apr 23, 2012 08:08 Moscow Time
The EU Council has postponed until the end of next month decision on a complete ban on Iranian oil imports, which is due to take effect on July 1.
According to diplomatic sources the delay was insisted upon by Italy and Greece, which fear that without Iranian oil imports they would have to spend much more on meeting their domestic energy needs.
The EU countries, above all Greece, Italy and Spain, account for about 20 percent of Iran's crude exports.
(TASS) [Link]