“Right now Iran has no gas exports to the EU and the threat of sanctions [against Iran’s gas] is mere propaganda campaign,” said Alireza Nikzad Rahbar, a spokesman for the ministry on Saturday.
He said that possible sanctions against Iran’s gas would be mostly to the detriment of European countries as they would deprive themselves of Iran’s vast gas reserves and thus would have to increase their reliance on other sources of energy.
“We consider the EU threat as mere propaganda campaign because the increase in EU’s dependence on limited sources of gas will put at risk the energy security of this continent,” he added.
Western diplomats said Thursday that the European Union is ready to ban imports of Iranian gas.
They said they were preparing a package of sanctions that consists of finance and energy-related proposals, including bans on Iran’s gas, as part of measures to mount pressure on Iran over its nuclear energy program.
The package will be presented at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on October 15 in Luxembourg.
The US and EU have imposed unilateral financial and energy sanctions on Iran over its nuclear energy program, claiming that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of International Atomic Energy Agency it is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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