AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Tehran: Iran said Monday that it would only use its vast oil resources as a weapon of last resort in the international dispute over its nuclear programme. The comments came the day after Iran's oil minister threatened to use oil as a weapon if the country's “interests are attacked”, amid mounting pressure on Tehran's hardline leadership to freeze sensitive atomic work.
“There is no reason not to use devices for protecting our country's interests, and these threats are directed at the ones who are bullying and seeking to dominate,” government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
But he stressed that oil “is not our preliminary device. We have diplomatic means for dialogue and we encourage implementing peace.”
“This issue (oil) is the ultimate (weapon),” he said, adding that there “is no need to bring up such issues, and the conditions are good for a diplomatic solution.”
The West suspects that Iran, which is the OPEC oil cartel's number two exporter, is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies this and insists its atomic programme is purely for electricity generation.
Tehran has been offered a proposal — drawn up by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States — which offers incentives and multilateral negotiations if it agrees to halt uranium enrichment.
But Iran appears to still reject the key condition in the package and continues to call for negotiations devoid of any “preconditions”.
