Some Eastern European states want Iran to scrap plan for oil embargo: Iranian MP

TEHRAN, Feb. 15 (MNA) -- A number of Eastern European countries have asked the Iranian parliament to scrap the plan calling for a halt to Iran’s oil exports to the European Union states that voted for sanctions on the country’s oil industry, according to Iranian MP Karim Abedi. The Majlis prepared the plan in response to the oil embargo that the EU imposed on Iran on January 23. The request was made in messages sent to the Iranian parliament, Abedi told on Tuesday. “A number of European countries have called for a moratorium, and ambassadors of a number of other countries, including France, have appeared in the Majlis and have asked that the plan not be pursued,” added Abedi, who is a member of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. “In confidential messages, ambassadors of a number of Eastern European countries have also asked the Iranian Majlis not to ratify the plan calling for a halt to oil exports to Europe,” he said. In the messages of these countries, it has been stated, “The adoption of the embargo on Iran’s oil by the European Union is political, and you should not take it seriously,” he added. “There are 40 to 50 refineries in Europe that are compatible with Iran’s oil, and it will take the Europeans six months to make them compatible with another country’s oil,” Abedi stated. He added, “Europe will incur considerable expenses if it changes the structure of its refineries, and Europe does not want to bear the costs” now that a cold snap has gripped it. The Iranian MP also said that the Majlis is quite determined to ratify the plan.