Iranian Economy Minister Shamseddin Hosseini said oil prices will rise under sanctions designed to persuade the Persian Gulf nation to abandon its nuclear program.

 

 

Oil prices might go as high as $160 per barrel if the European Union goes ahead with a July 1 embargo, Hosseini told CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” in an interview. 

 

“We must pay close attention when we speak of oil revenues and sanctions against oil sales, who are the winners and the losers of such sanctions?” Hosseini said. “Indeed, it is difficult. But not just for Iran. And we can all rest assured that there will be a considerable increase in international oil market prices. Now, is this the best approach?”

 

Hosseini said his country has endured sanctions for 33 years and “this really shows that the economy, the economic strength of Iran is in such a way that can withstand these sanctions and will not be the only economy to suffer.”

 

Hosseini said the embargo would also likely hurt the EU, which is grappling with its own weakened economy.

 

Oil prices as a result of the sanctions, he said, “will go considerably higher than $100 per barrel. Even the International Monetary Fund says as a result of these sanctions, oil prices will perhaps reach and hover around $160 per barrel.”

 

(Source: CNN)