VIENNA, June 13: A looming oil embargo on Iran will destabilise the global oil market and spark higher prices, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi warned on Wednesday in Vienna.

“Unfortunately the issue of imposing sanctions... is being considered by Europe,” Qasemi said on the eve of a meeting of the Opec to discuss oil output levels.

“This politically-motivated approach will damage the stability of both the oil market and the world economy,” he added.

“Unilaterally imposing sanctions as a means to attain a political objective are imposing constraints on the oil industry.”

“This will result in an unstable oil market and ultimately lead to a sharp swing in the price of oil.”

He added later however that “the time (for the embargo) has not arrived yet.”

“We wish this will not happen. It will lead to higher prices.”

The European Union is preparing to impose an oil embargo on Iran on July 1, unless diplomatic talks see progress.

Opec partners gathered in Vienna for an oil conference ahead of their ministerial meeting and also spoke out against the pending EU sanctions on Wednesday.

“I don't want to see any of my member countries under embargo, I am really against this 100 per cent,” Opec secretary-general Abdullah El-Badri said.

He also told journalists that he hoped this embargo will be “lifted somehow, by discussion and by... peaceful solutions.”

Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez also rejected the sanctions.

“We denounce the embargo again Iran,” he told reporters.

“The EU cannot promote a dialogue with (oil) producers and on the other hand impose sanctions.”

“The sanctions aren't good for anyone. Restricting access to oil resources and those who have them only complicates the situation at a time when the EU's economic position is perilous.”

New talks with the so-called P5+1 powers — the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France, plus Germany — are set for June 18-19 in Moscow after previous attempts in Istanbul and Baghdad achieved little.—AFP