TEHRAN, June 17: Iran said on Tuesday it would be opposed to any move by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to raise its oil output without a consensus from fellow members of the oil cartel.

“If Saudi Arabia takes a measure to unilaterally increase (oil) output, it is a wrong move,” Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran’s new representative to OPEC, was quoted as saying by the state television.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon announced on Sunday that Saudi Arabia had told him it would increase its oil output by a further 200,000 barrels a day in July, although it was not clear if Khatibi was reacting to these comments.

Saudi Arabia is also organising talks among major oil producers and consumers in Jeddah next week to discuss the current sky-rocketing prices.

Iran is OPEC’s number two producer, behind the Saudis, and has consistently argued that the high oil price has nothing to do with market fundamentals and OPEC’s output should not be increased.

“Any increase in production should be approved in the meeting of the organisation’s ministers,” Khatibi stressed.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Gaza genocide
06 Dec, 2024

Gaza genocide

THERE is little else one can add to the stark conclusion reached by the Amnesty International secretary general...
Agri tax changes
06 Dec, 2024

Agri tax changes

IT is quite surprising if not disconcerting to see the PPP government in Sindh dragging its feet on the changes to...
AJK unrest
06 Dec, 2024

AJK unrest

THERE is trouble brewing in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, where a coalition comprising various civil society organisations...
Failed martial law
Updated 05 Dec, 2024

Failed martial law

Appetite for non-democratic systems of governance appears to be shrinking rapidly. Perhaps more countries are now realising the futility of rule by force.
Holding the key
05 Dec, 2024

Holding the key

IN the view of one learned judge of the Supreme Court’s recently formed constitutional bench, parliament holds the...
New low
05 Dec, 2024

New low

WHERE does one go from here? In the latest blow to women’s rights in Afghanistan, the Taliban regime has barred...