Iran says to hold back oil sales if sent to UN

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran may respond by holding back on oil
sales if its nuclear program is referred to the United Nations
Security Council, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in
an interview published on Saturday.

“But if Iran’s case is sent to the Security Council, we
will respond by many ways, for example by holding back on oil
sales,” he told the United Arab Emirates’ daily, The Khaleej
Times.

“We have been extremely cooperative, we have had more than
1,200 man days of inspections, monitoring cameras are
everywhere in our facilities.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a
resolution last Saturday recommending Iran be reported in the
future to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

Analysts had predicted Iran could use oil as a lever
against countries seeking to send Iran to the Security Council.

Iran said on Thursday it would start uranium enrichment and
stop allowing U.N. snap inspections of its atomic facilities if
it was referred to the Security Council in November.

The country also threatened to use trade to punish
countries that have voted to report it to the U.N. Security
council for possible sanctions.

Tehran says its nuclear program is purely for generating
electricity, but the United States and the European Union
suspect Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons.