Fact or Fiction: Iran’s Oil Embargo on Europe

Iran Oil Ministry Surprised to Hear About It

An announcement in Iran’s state media makes it sound like a done deal: “Iran cutting oil export to six European states” in retaliation for those nations’ backing of an EU embargo on Iran. The states were named as Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Greece and France.

The announcement came with a caveat that Iran would be willing to sell to European companies that signed long-term agreements, so long as they were able to guarantee that payment would actually be made.

The problem is, no one apparently told Iran’s Oil Ministry. No one told any of the countries impacted either, and Spain reports that Iranian oil is still flowing into the country unaffected by the supposed embargo.

Iran’s parliament is expected to approve a bill to this effect next month, but the report appears to have been premature. Iran has increasingly been relying on India and China as export markets for their oil.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.