UN team in Iran as lawmakers debate oil ban bill
Untied Nations nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran yesterday in a bid to shed light on the suspected military aspects of Tehran's nuclear programme.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation, agency deputy director-general Herman Nackaertsaid, said he wanted to "resolve all outstanding issues with Iran" over the nuclear programme which, the West believes, is aimed at making weapons but which Iran insists is peaceful.
"We hope Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of their nuclear programme," he said at Vienna airport, before leaving.
That might be a tall order, with Iran insisting that its right to peaceful nuclear technology be recognised by sceptical nations which say its uranium enrichment activities - some of which have been moved to a bomb-proof bunker - go beyond what is needed for atomic energy.
Tensions with the West rose this month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet in their campaign to force Tehran to make concessions. The measures target the ability of Opec's second-biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.
Less than a week after the EU's 27 member states agreed to stop imports of crude from Iran from July 1, Iranian lawmakers debated a bill proposing to halt oil supplies to the EU within days.
By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned for those members most dependent on Iranian oil to adapt.
The head of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company said on Saturday the embargo would hit European refiners, such as Italy's Eni, that are owed oil from Iran as part of long-standing buy-back contracts by which they take payment in crude for past oilfield projects.
Italy's Eni is owed $1,4-billion to $1.5-billion in oil for contracts it executed in Iran in 2000 and 2001. It has been assured by EU policy makers that its buy-back contracts will not be part of the European embargo, but if Iran acts first that might not be the case.
The EU accounted for 25% of Iranian crude sales in the third quarter of 2011 but analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if the bill is passed and Europe's oil tap is turned off.
"The Saudis have made it clear that they'll step in to fill the void," said Robert Smith, a consultant at Facts Global Energy.
"It would not pose a serious threat to oil-market stability. Asians, predominantly the Chinese and Indians, stand to benefit from more Iranian crude - at potential discounts."