Iran says can find new oil markets after EU sanctions

Tehran has shrugged off a new European Union ban on the purchase of Iranian oil, with officials declaring that the country can find new markets for its oil.    

The EU imposed an oil embargo against Iran Monday, part of sanctions to pressure Tehran into resuming talks on the country's controversial nuclear program.      

Tehran's initial response was to treat the embargo as an act of aggression, with the foreign ministry declaring the measures "propaganda and psychological war," and two lawmakers repeating long-standing threats that the country would close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation.    

But other officials took a slightly different tack, arguing that the sanctions simply would not work.   

Iran's Oil Ministry said the country can find new markets.    

"Iran can easily find new customers for its oil," Mohsen Qamsari, a senior ministry official, was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying. "The National Iranian Oil Company has adopted the necessary measures to replace its oil exports in 2012."    

Some 80 percent of Iran's foreign revenue comes from oil exports, and analysts say that any sanctions affecting its ability to export oil would hit its economy hard. With about 4 million barrels per day, Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC. It exports about 2 million barrels a day and consumes the rest domestically.

AP