Iran plays down France's crude import ban proposal

摘要

Tehran-Iran has played down the potential impact of a French proposal for an EU ban on Iranian oil exports, saying its exports had not been affected by previous sanctions, while revealing plans to sign a succession of contracts worth $7 billion in coming weeks to develop offshore and onshore oil and gas fields. But despite the positive picture painted by oil minister Rostam Ghasemi and other senior Iranian politicians in the face of a stepped up international campaign against Iran, Ghasemi announced a one-year delay in the startup of four phases of the giant South Pars gas field, a priority project for Tehran.