http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/June/theworld_June214.xml§ion=theworldBAKU - Western pressure on Iran is driven not by concerns about weapons of mass destruction but by interest in the country’s oil reserves, a senior Iranian energy official said here on Wednesday.
“Political pressure on Iran is fundamentally driven by the desire of those who wish to control the hydrocarbon resources of the Middle East and the Caspian Sea region, as was proven by the 2003 invasion of Iraq,” said Mahmoud Khaghani, head of the Iranian petroleum ministry’s Caspian Sea department.
Any potential future conflict in the region would be over oil, Khaghani said, but would be “justified as trying to prevent weapons of mass destruction.”
Attending an energy conference in Iran’s neighbour Azerbaijan, Khaghani said Tehran’s uranium enrichment program was aimed at meeting increased domestic energy demand.
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