Reuters: Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday that Tehran would not use oil as a weapon in the row over its nuclear programme. GENEVA (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Friday that Tehran would not use oil as a weapon in the row over its nuclear programme.
“We’re not going to use energy as a political leverage,” Mottaki told reporters in Geneva, where he is on a two-day stay.
The world’s major powers — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — told Iran on Thursday it must heed a U.N. call to curb its nuclear programme or face isolation.
Britain said Iran could eventually face U.N. sanctions if it failed to suspend uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power stations or atomic bombs.
“We don’t think there is a lot of chance of sanctions being put into place,” Mottaki said on Friday.
He reiterated that Iran would not give up its right to develop nuclear power for civilian use and said his country remained open to negotiations on how this could be done.
Mottaki, who addressed the U.N. Disarmament Conference in Geneva on Thursday, was due to address a think tank in the Swiss city later on Friday.
