Iran warns of consequences if Arabs back oil sanctions

Iran warns of consequences if Arabs back oil sanctions

Iran warned Gulf Arab neighbors on Sunday they would suffer consequences if they raised oil output to replace Iranian crude facing an international ban.

In signs of Tehran's deepening isolation over its refusal to halt nuclear activity that could yield atomic bombs, China's premier was in Saudi Arabia probing for greater access to its huge oil and gas reserves and Britain voiced confidence a once hesitant European Union would soon ban oil imports from Iran.

Major importers of Iranian oil were long loath to embargo the lifeblood of Iran's economy because of fears this would send oil prices rocketing at a time - amidst debt and deficit crises and high unemployment - when they could least afford it.

But strong momentum for oil sanctions has been created by a U.N. watchdog report saying Iran appeared to have worked on designing an atom bomb.