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Reciprocal Move In Fuel Row

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has warned Europe that Iran could retaliate their refusal to supply fuel to its commercial flights.

He made the remark Tuesday on the sidelines of a press conference at the 17th edition of the International Press Festival underway in Tehran.

"We have given the necessary warnings and if the current situation is not corrected in some European capitals, they will face reciprocal action from Iran," Fars News Agency quoted him as saying.

A Hamburg airport official confirmed in July that two Iranian aircraft had taken off from a German airport without refueling and there are other reports that some Iranian planes had been denied fuel in Germany, Britain and a Persian Gulf Arab state.

On Saturday, the chairman of Iran's national airline said that despite European airports' refusal to refuel Iran Air planes, none of the company's flights were cancelled.

"In addition to European oil companies, some non-European companies have also imposed restrictions on providing Iran Air planes with fuel, but this issue has not caused the company's flights to be cancelled," Farhad Parvaresh said.

Pointing to international regulations and the Chicago Convention, the Iran Air official said the fuel move was in violation of such laws, adding that Tehran would pursue the issue through legal international channels.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said last week that the measure was illegal and it did not even fall under the UN Security Council's resolution, adding that Iran will not tolerate such illegitimate measures and will reciprocate should that continue.

Iran's Response
In retaliation to the European oil companies' move, Iran stopped providing fuel to the only British airline flying to Tehran.

A British airline said on Monday that Iran has stopped refueling their planes for about a week.

British Midlands International (BMI), which operates daily flights between London and Tehran, said Iranian airline authorities have stopped fully refueling their planes for about a week, forcing the airline to make stops in third countries.

"We are currently not getting all the fuel we need at Tehran's main airport," Washington Post quoted a spokeswoman for BMI as saying in London on Monday.

"So flights between London Heathrow and Tehran [Imam Khomeini International Airport] are currently subject to a short stop en route to take on more fuel; this is only a temporary measure," she stressed.

Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi said at the weekend that retaliatory measures had been taken in the fuel row, but did not provide details, Fars News Agency reported.

Rahimi echoed other Iranian officials saying that the US-backed measures were illegal.

In June the UNSC imposed a US-engineered sanctions resolution against Iran's financial and military sectors over Western allegations that Tehran is pursuing a military nuclear program.

Following the UNSC sanctions, the US took unilateral measures against Tehran, seeking to prevent the country's access to refined oil products and penalize foreign companies that help Iran's energy sector.

Tehran refutes the charges, arguing that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use peaceful nuclear energy.

More Restrictions
Other major European airlines fear the Iranian countermeasures are the start of more jet fuel restrictions.

Airline experts say the fuel stops are costing time and money and lead to a disruption of transfer flight schedules that could eventually result into flight cancellations.

The jet fuel dispute follows an agreement announced in Washington on September 30, in which Total of France, Statoil of Norway, Eni of Italy and Royal Dutch Shell of Britain and the Netherlands pledged to end their investments in Iran and avoid new activity in the country's energy sector.

In turn, US officials said, the companies would be protected from possible US penalties for doing business with Iran.

In recent weeks, several major oil firms, including British Petroleum, Royal Dutch Shell and Q8 , have canceled jet fuel delivery contracts with Iran Air , the country's national airline.

Under sanctions passed by the US Congress against Iran in July, jet fuel sales of as much as $5 million a year are permitted.

Sanctions imposed by the European Union specifically single out the civilian operations of Iran Air as being allowed and do not call for restrictions against the airline.

© Iran Daily 2010