Iran predicts global oil prices to soar by 50 per cent
Iranian officials predicted that global oil prices would soar by 50 per cent in the wake of EU sanctions as the country's oil minister declared exports to "some countries" would be cut off.
In what will be seen as evidence of brinksmanship, Iran's parliament postponed debate on a proposal immediately to halt oil deliveries to the EU, which accounts for 20 per cent of Tehran's exports of crude.
Despite postponing the parliamentary debate, Rostam Qasemi, Iran'senergy minister, promised that exports to some countries, which he did not name, would be ended "soon".
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on a three-day mission to investigate the suspected military dimensions of Iran's nuclear programme to a flurry of anti-Western invective.
A damning report released by the body in November accused Iran of military-related atomic activities for the first time.
The visit comes when Iran's relationship with the West is a fraught as at any time in recent years after the regime reacted with fury to a decision by the EU and the US this month to sanction the country's central bank and oil sector.