Israel Government sources refused today to comment on a report from Teheran that the Iranian Government had called on the international group which operates the country’s oil industry to refrain from selling oil to Israel.
Israeli economic circles were not impressed by the Iranian move. They noted that Iran’s was not the only oil available in the Persian Gulf and that oil could be obtained from the international consortium which handles Iranian oil and from independent producers both in Iran and other parts of the Persian Gulf area.
In a move seen only as a gesture of friendship toward the Arab countries, Iran asked the National Iranian Oil Company, which controls one-eighth of the country’s oil, “to avoid all transactions with Israel.” However, both the Iranian Government and its oil company admit they cannot force compliance by the 17 American, British, French and Dutch companies which market Iran’s oil abroad.
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