TEHRAN, Jan 29 (Reuters) – U.N. nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran on Sunday, hoping to shed light on suspected military aspects of Tehran’s atomic work, on the day its lawmakers look set to ban oil exports to Europe in revenge for new EU sanctions.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation said he aimed to “resolve all the outstanding issues with Iran” over the nuclear programme which the West believes is aimed at making weapons but which Iran insists is peaceful.

“In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme,” IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts told reporters before departing from Vienna airport.

That may be a tall order, with Iran insisting its right to peaceful nuclear technology be recognised by sceptical countries which say its uranium enrichment activities – some of which have been moved to a bomb-proof bunker – go beyond what is needed for atomic energy.

Tensions with the West rose this month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet in their campaign to force Tehran into making concessions. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC’s second biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.

Less than one week after the EU’s 27 member states agreed to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1, Iranian lawmakers were due to debate a bill later on Sunday that would cut off oil supplies to the EU in a matter of days.

By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned to give those of its members most dependent on Iranian oil – including some of the most economically fragile in southern Europe – to adapt.

TEHRAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Fighting sanctions with sanctions in a trial of strength with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran warned on Friday it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies.

At the same time, the government in Tehran, grappling with its own economic crisis under Western trade and banking embargoes, will host a rare visit on Sunday by U.N. nuclear inspectors for talks that the ruling clergy may hope can relieve diplomatic pressure as they struggle to bolster public support.

Since the U.N. watchdog lent independent weight in November to the suspicions of Western powers that Iran is using a nuclear energy programme to give itself the ability to build atomic bombs, U.S. and EU sanctions and Iranian threats of reprisal against Gulf shipping lanes have disrupted world oil markets and pushed up prices.

Amid forecasts Iran might be able to build a bomb next year, and with President Barack Obama facing re-election campaign questions on how he can make good on promises – to Americans and to Israel – not to tolerate a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic, a decade of dispute risks accelerating towards the brink of war.

Western diplomats see little immediate prospect of renewed talks between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, scheduled from Sunday to Tuesday in Tehran, as likely to elicit much in the way of concessions to Western demands.

For all the tension, there was little clear market response to Friday’s talk by members of Iran’s parliament that they may vote on Sunday to stop sending oil to the European Union – its second biggest customer – as early as next week, to spite EU states that gave themselves until July to enforce an oil import embargo on Iran.

While Greek and Italian refineries which rely on Iranian crude face hardships – recession-hit Greeks bought more than half their oil from Iran lately – analysts see Arab producers satisfying some shortfall, and demand for Iranian oil from China and other Asians that do not back Western sanctions may mean world oil flows are merely diverted rather than blocked.

TEHRAN, Jan 27 (Reuters) – A law to be debated in Iran’s parliament on Sunday may halt oil exports to the European Union as early as next week, foiling an EU plan to phase in an oil embargo gradually to help its struggling economies adapt, lawmakers said on Friday.

“On Sunday, parliament will have to approve a ‘double emergency’ bill calling for a halt in the export of Iranian oil to Europe starting next week,” Hossein Ibrahimi, vice-chairman of parliament’s national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Parliament is pushing for the export ban to deny the EU a six-month phase-in of the embargo on Iran’s oil, which the bloc agreed on Monday as part of a raft of tough new Western sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear programme.

The EU accounted for 18 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), making it Iran’s second-biggest customer after China.

“If the deputies arrive at the conclusion that the Iranian oil exports to Europe must be halted, parliament will not delay a moment (in passing the bill),” Fars quoted Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of parliament’s energy committee, as saying.

“If Iran’s oil export to Europe … is halted, the Europeans will surely be taken by surprise and will understand the power of Iran and will realise that the Islamic establishment will not succumb to the Europeans’ policies,” he said.

Indicating the plan had the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of Friday prayers at Tehran university mocked the EU’s decision to phase in sanctions.

TEHRAN, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad agreed to increase bank interest rates on Wednesday, hoping to halt a spiralling currency crisis intensified by new Western sanctions.

“The economy minister has announced Ahmadinejad has agreed with the approval of the Money and Credit Council to increase interest rates on bank deposits to up to 21 percent,” the official IRNA news agency reported.

Sanctions the United States and the European Union announced over the last month – targeting Iran’s vital oil exports and its central bank – exacerbated fears about the economy and worsened a dash for hard currency.

The rial was already losing value since a decision last April to cut interest paid on bank deposits to a range of a 12.5-15.5, below inflation which is currently around 20 percent, prompting many Iranians to withdraw savings and buy gold and foreign currency and pushing up the price of both.

But the dash for those safe havens accelerated sharply after the new sanctions were announced, resulting in the rial losing 50 percent of its value against the price of dollars available on the open market in just one month.

Monday’s decision marks a policy U-turn for Ahmadinejad, who faces a political test in March 2 parliamentary election. He previously vetoed efforts by Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani to increase rates.

The rial’s slide is a huge risk to already rising inflation as Iran is heavily reliant on imported consumer and intermediate goods whose prices have surged as the rial has depreciated.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has stepped back from a threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, but while its softened rhetoric appears to be aimed at de-escalating military tensions, it does not indicate any change of stance on its nuclear programme.

“Iran’s leadership has a strong sense of self-preservation,” said Robert Smith, a consultant at Facts Global Energy. “The comments can likely be interpreted as a sign of cooler heads prevailing.”

A senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday the likely return of U.S. naval vessels to the region was “not a new issue and … should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence”.

That was a significant shift from earlier this month when Tehran said the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, which left at the end of December during Iranian naval manoeuvres, should not return – an order interpreted by some observers in Iran and Washington as a blanket threat to any U.S. carriers.

Only a few weeks ago Tehran was threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, used by a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade, if new sanctions cripple its oil exports – exactly the effect Washington and Europe are aiming for.

European Union foreign ministers are set to meet on Monday to agree a ban on importing oil from Iran and sanctions signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve aim to make it impossible for countries around the world to buy Iranian crude.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who had said Iran would not allow “even one drop of oil” through the strait if oil sanctions are imposed, was less fiery in remarks reported on Sunday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran has stepped back from a threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, but while its softened rhetoric appears to be aimed at de-escalating military tensions, it does not indicate any change of stance on its nuclear program.

“Iran’s leadership has a strong sense of self-preservation,” said Robert Smith, a consultant at Facts Global Energy. “The comments can likely be interpreted as a sign of cooler heads prevailing.”

A senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday the likely return of U.S. naval vessels to the region was “not a new issue and … should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence.

That was a significant shift from earlier this month when Tehran said the USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier, which left at the end of December during Iranian naval maneuvers, should not return – an order interpreted by some observers in Iran and Washington as a blanket threat to any U.S. carriers.

Only a few weeks ago Tehran was threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, used by a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade, if new sanctions cripple its oil exports – exactly the effect Washington and Europe are aiming for.

European Union foreign ministers are set to meet on Monday to agree a ban on importing oil from Iran and sanctions signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve aim to make it impossible for countries around the world to buy Iranian crude.

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who had said Iran would not allow “even one drop of oil” through the strait if oil sanctions are imposed, was less fiery in remarks reported on Sunday.

TEHRAN, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Saturday it considered the likely return of U.S. warships to the Gulf part of routine activity, backing away from previous warnings to Washington not to re-enter the area.

The statement may be seen as an effort to reduce tensions after Washington said it would respond if Iran made good on a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz – the vital shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf.

“U.S. warships and military forces have been in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East region for many years and their decision in relation to the dispatch of a new warship is not a new issue and it should be interpreted as part of their permanent presence,” Revolutionary Guard Deputy Commander Hossein Salami told the official IRNA news agency.

The apparently conciliatory comments may be a response to the European Union and Washington’s rejection of Iran’s declaration it was close to resuming negotiations with world powers and with the Pentagon saying it did not expect any challenge to its warships.

Crude prices have spiked several times this year on fears diplomatic tensions could escalate to military clashes as well as uncertainty about the effect of sanctions on the oil market.

Along with the EU, which is set to agree an embargo on Iranian oil next week, Washington hopes the sanctions will force Iran to suspend the nuclear activities it believes are aimed at making an atom bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

There has been no U.S. aircraft carrier in the Gulf since the USS John C. Stennis left at the end of December at a time when the Revolutionary Guard was conducting naval manoeuvres.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said it was in touch with big powers to reopen talks soon on its nuclear program, but Washington and the European Union denied this and urged Tehran to show it was ready to engage.

A year after the last talks fell apart, confrontation is brewing over Tehran’s nuclear work, which the United States and other countries say is focused on developing atomic weapons. Iran dismisses the accusation.

The EU is preparing to intensify sanctions against Iran with an embargo on its economically vital oil exports. EU diplomats said on Wednesday member governments had also agreed in principle to freeze the assets of Iran’s central bank, but had yet to agree how to protect non-oil trade from sanctions.

Iran has threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, used for a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade, if it cannot sell its own crude, fanning fears of a descent into war in the Gulf that could inflame the Middle East.

Iranian politicians said President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran, a step that might relieve tensions behind recent oil price spikes.

“Negotiations are going on about venue and date. We would like to have these negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

“Most probably, I am not sure yet, the venue will be Istanbul. The day is not yet settled, but it will be soon.”

TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday it was in touch with big powers to hold fresh talks soon but the European Union denied it, with Britain saying Tehran had yet to show willingness for negotiations on its disputed nuclear work without preconditions.

A year after the last talks collapsed, tensions are rising with the United States and EU preparing to embargo Iran’s lifeblood oil industry over its refusal to suspend a nuclear program that the West suspects is meant to develop atom bombs.

Iranian politicians said U.S. President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran, a step that might relieve tensions behind several oil price spikes and growing fears of military conflict in the Gulf.

“Negotiations are going on about venue and date. We would like to have these negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

“Most probably, I am not sure yet, the venue will be Istanbul. The day is not yet settled, but it will be soon.”

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, representing the six powers, denied there were any fresh discussions with the Islamic Republic to organize a meeting.

“There are no negotiations under way on new talks,” he said in Brussels. “We are still waiting for Iran to respond to the substantive proposals the High Representative (Ashton) made in her letter from October.”

TEHRAN, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Iran said on Wednesday it was in touch with big powers to hold fresh talks soon but the European Union denied it, with Britain saying Tehran had yet to show willingness for negotiations on its disputed nuclear work without preconditions.

A year after the last talks collapsed, tensions are rising with the United States and EU preparing to embargo Iran’s lifeblood oil industry over its refusal to suspend a nuclear programme that the West suspects is meant to develop atom bombs.

Iranian politicians said U.S. President Barack Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran, a step that might relieve tensions behind several oil price spikes and growing fears of military conflict in the Gulf.

“Negotiations are going on about venue and date. We would like to have these negotiations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters during a visit to Turkey.

“Most probably, I am not sure yet, the venue will be Istanbul. The day is not yet settled, but it will be soon.”

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, representing the six powers, denied there were any fresh discussions with the Islamic Republic to organise a meeting.

“There are no negotiations under way on new talks,” he said in Brussels. “We are still waiting for Iran to respond to the substantive proposals the High Representative (Ashton) made in her letter from October.”