An Iranian official dismissed reports about the country’s aircraft being denied fuel in Germany, Britain and UAE as “not right” and instead said its planes refuel at airports around the world. Terming the reports as part of a "psychological war," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, "This news is not right. No such limitation has been imposed. The spread of inaccurate news is done in line with creating a negative atmosphere. It's a kind of psychological war against our people."
According to Financial Times, BP had stopped refueling Iranian planes in compliance with U.S. sanctions, which tends to isolate Tehran over its nuclear enrichment activities. The West enforced the sanctions in fear that Tehran could make a bomb.
However, the latter denies outright any such plans. BP in its reply said, “We fully comply with any international sanctions imposed in countries where we operate." Meanwhile, the German Transport Ministry and the British government said there was no such ban on fuel supplies to Iranian planes. UAE sources said there has been no such ban imposed but a private company had refused to refuel an Iranian plane.
Iran is the fifth largest producer of oil, but due to inadequate refining capacity it has to import up to 40 percent of its fuel. But, the U.S. sanctions threaten to disrupt the economic security of the country. Late June, France's Total was the latest oil company to stop gasoline sales to Iran. Downplaying the economic effects of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the fourth round of U.N. sanctions is nothing but a "used handkerchief."
