Malaysia denies halting fuel exports to Iran

Reuters-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

Najib Razak, Malaysian Prime Minister, has denied reports that Malaysia has stopped sale of petrol to Iran saying there has merely been no requests for fuel from Iran since March.

Rueters news agency quoted a Petronas spokesman earlier saying that the company has halted sale of petrol to Iran since March.

The report also maintained that the decision was based on fears of risking Malaysia-US relations with the looming US sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities.

In the past months, US efforts to start a new set of sanctions against Iran have led a number of international companies to reduce or even completely halt their business relations with Iran.

Najib Razak told reporters in New York that Petronas has made no such decision to stop fuel sales to Iran. He maintained that Petronas was involved in a cash sale with Iran in mid-March and since then they have received no other requests from Iran.

He emphasized that this is a business transaction and if there are any other requests put forth, they will be duly considered.

Iran is the fifth major exporter of crude oil in the world; however, over 40 percent of its fuel consumption is supplied by petrol imports because of its limited refining capabilities.

Iran's daily petrol consumption, according to ISNA, is 73 million litres.