No bill yet drafted on Iran's oil ban to EU

Iran's Majlis (parliament) Energy Commission said on Sunday that no bill has been drafted or brought to the legislature regarding an oil exports ban to the European Union (EU), the local satellite Press TV reported.

The commission's spokesman Emad Hosseini said "what exists is an idea put forward by some lawmakers, which they will pursue when a result is achieved."

On Friday, Hossein Ebrahimi, deputy head of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said the Iranian lawmakers will discuss a bill that calls for a ban of oil exports to the EU as early as next week.

In reference to the EU's decision to embargo Iran's oil, the lawmaker called the new sanction measures a "psychological war," the implementation of which remains uncertain.

Nasser Soudani, a member of the Majlis Energy Commission, said Wednesday that in a preemptive move, the Iranian parliament was mulling over a plan to halt its oil exports to the EU members.

"Majlis representatives are seeking to approve a plan, according to which all European countries imposing sanctions against Iran will not be able to buy even one drop of oil from Iran," Soudani said.

Last Monday, the foreign ministers of the EU countries decided to embargo Iran's oil and oil products, causing investors to worry about global oil supplies as Tehran had threatened in retaliation to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane for the trade.

Major EU importers of Iran's oil, such as Greece, Italy and Spain, have until July 1, when the embargo comes into force, to find alternative oil suppliers.

Ali-Abar Velayati, a top advisor to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned Thursday that "no one can sell oil if Iran cannot."