Reuters: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday Iran does not wish to use oil as a weapon in its standoff with the West over its nuclear program. DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday Iran does not wish to use oil as a weapon in its standoff with the West over its nuclear program.
“I affirm that we do not wish to use oil as a weapon,” Ahmadinejad told Reuters in an interview conducted along with Iranian Al-Alam television station.
Ahmadinejad was speaking in Persian but his comments were dubbed into Arabic by Al-Alam Television, which filmed the interview.
“There are many responses for the possible aggression … which I do not imagine will take place. This is a psychological war,” he said.
Iran is embroiled in a row with Western powers over its nuclear work, which the United States and others suspect is a cover for developing nuclear bombs and which Tehran says is solely aimed at generating electricity.
Iran’s oil minister last week suggested the world’s fourth largest crude exporter could use oil as a weapon if it was attacked.
Analysts have said that if Iran chose to stop oil flows, which top Iranian officials have threatened in the past, it would be a double-edged sword by squeezing world markets but also stemming the country’s main source of export earnings.
