20/02/2012 11:10
Iran halts exporting oil to France and UK
Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Iranian oil ministry announced on its website Sunday, a move seen as retaliation for the European Union's decision last month to ramp up sanctions designed to pressure Tehran into resuming talks on its nuclear program, the CBS reports.
As the Bloomberg reports Iran “will give its crude oil to new customers instead of French and U.K. companies,” the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, citing Alireza Nikzad Rahbar, a ministry spokesman. France got 4 percent of its oil imports from Iran in the first half of last year, while the U.K. bought 1 percent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iran will increase the volume of crude it ships to China “soon,” state-run Mehr news agency reported Feb. 16.