Monday, November 19, 2007

OPEC SUMMIT ROUNDUP Ahmadinejad attacks US dollar, says won't use oil as weapon

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Thomson Financial) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad kept up his attack on the weak US dollar at the close of this weekend's Third OPEC Summit, but said the Islamic republic would not use oil as a weapon despite the spectre of increasing US political sanctions.

Speaking at a slapped-together press conference at the end of the two-day summit, Ahmadinejad denied Iran would cut its supply of oil to the world market -- without direct attack or invasion -- should the US ratchet up its pressure.

'We would never look to use oil as a weapon', Ahmadinejad said in response to a Thomson Financial News question.

The media-savvy Ahmadinejad's words echoed those of the new OPEC chairman, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, at the summit's gala opening. The King said oil 'must not become an instrument for conflict'.

Ahmadinejad went on to say that from an 'an economic point of view, from a political point of view, from a military point of view, there is no possibility of a new war in the region'.

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