In response to Iran�s oil embargo by European Union, Iranian lawmakers have announced its readiness to impose ban oil exports to certain EU states.

Iranian lawmakers keep a watchful eye on a number of important issues including a ban on Iran's oil exports to European countries, said Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday.

It is necessary to give a proper response to European countries� irrational attitude, he emphasized.

Larijani's remarks came in reply to a notification by lawmaker Mohammad Javad Karimi who had urged Iran�s legislature to take up two double-urgency bills on halting oil exports to some EU members.

Karimi said that the French, Danish and three other European ambassadors to Tehran recently held meetings with Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi, and discussed a possible ban by Iran on some 200,000 barrels of oil to Europe, where the possible move had caused economic turbulence.

He added that the two bills gave a 10-day deadline to Europe and noted that Iranian lawmakers are determined to take necessary measures at the earliest.

After the EU oil ban against Iran, members of the Iranian parliament finalized a draft bill on cutting the country's oil exports to the European states in retaliation for the EU move.

"The bill has 4 articles, including one which states that the Islamic Republic of Iran will cut all oil exports to the European states until they end their oil sanctions against the country," Vice-Chairman of the parliament's Energy Commission Nasser Soudani told FNA last month.

Elaborating on the other parts of the draft bill, he said another article requires the government to stop imports of goods from those countries which are a party to these sanctions against Iran.

In relevant remarks on Saturday, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi also underlined Tehran's determination to retaliate against the western states' oil ban against the country, and said Iran will certainly cut its oil exports to certain European countries.

Also Tuesday, Iran rejected as a "antagonistic" a�tightening of US sanctions�that targets the Islamic state's central bank and gives US banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government.

"It is an antagonistic move... a psychological war which has no impact... There is nothing new, it has been going on for over 30 years," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a weekly news conference.

"Sanctions will not have any impact on our nuclear course."

 

Sources: Press TV, CNN,�Jerusalem�Post