Iran warns over output rise after sanctions

Financial Times/ By Monavar Khalaj in Tehran and Javier Blas in London/

Iran has warned Saudi Arabia and other members of the Opec cartel not to boost their oil production to make up for any shortfall created by western sanctions against Tehran.

The warning comes after senior policymakers from the UK to Japan flocked to Riyadh to ask Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, for guarantees it would boost its oil production to offset the impact of the US and the European Union sanctions against Iran.

Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran’s Opec representative, said Tehran would consider any output increase as “unfriendly”, further inflaming the tensions in the oil-rich Middle East that have pushed the cost of Brent, the global oil benchmark, above $110 a barrel.

“Should Iran’s southern neighbours collaborate with the adventurous countries [the US and European Union] to replace their oil [production] for that of Iran… such countries will be held as main culprits,” Mr Khatibi, told the reformist Persian daily Shargh on Sunday.

“Such moves are not considered friendly [by Iran],” he said, adding the “consequences” of Saudi Arabia and other Opec members raising production could not be predicted. More >>