Iran denies report of curbing oil sales

Iran's President has denied telling a newspaper that his government might curtail oil sales if Iran is referred to the UN security council for possible sanctions over its nuclear programme. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "never had an interview, either oral or written, with the Khaleej Times," the President's office said in a statement late yesterday.

In a statement issued today, the Dubai-based newspaper said it stood by the contents of the interview and by the reporter, who is a freelance journalist.

But the newspaper acknowledged confusion might have arisen because the reporter on several occasions "presented herself (to Ahmadinejad) as a reporter with the American-based Arabic news, and not as a Khaleej Times reporter, though she has given this report exclusively to Khaleej Times."

The paper's editor, Prem Chandran, said the daily stood behind the interview and the reporter.

"We support what we published, and the reporter has freelanced for us for more than a year. This interview was given to us exclusively," he said.

The paper had reported Ahmadinejad as speaking about last month's resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which warned iran it would be referred to the UN Security Council unless it allayed fears about its nuclear programme.

The President's office denied this, saying, "such a claim is nothing more than a mere abrcation," according to the official Isami Republic News Agency.