Iran: Sanctions Would Boost Oil Prices

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- The Iranian deputy oil minister said Sunday he did not believe the United Nations would impose sanctions on Iran because that would boost oil prices even higher.

''Any action like that will increase oil prices very high. And I believe that the U.N. or its bodies will not put any sanctions on oil or the oil industry,'' M.H. Nejad Hosseinian told reporters after talks in Islamabad with Pakistani officials over a proposed pipeline to transport Iranian gas to Pakistan and India.

Rice also said the United States probably would seek a U.N. resolution requiring Iran to comply with demands that it stop enriching uranium. Rice mentioned a resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which means it can be enforced through penalties or military action.

''The international community's credibility is at stake here,'' she said. ''And we have a choice, too. We can either mean what we say, when we say that Iran must comply, or we can continue to allow Iran to defy.''

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