Iran Thumbs Nose At West Over Oil Demands

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari taunted America and Britain after the two countries appealed for OPEC to increase supply.

“Why should OPEC try to lower prices? … Let America and Britain continue demanding,” the controversial minister said to journalists outside a conference in Tehran on Wednesday.
His hard-line stance is echoed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called for OPEC to stop pricing its oil in dollars and list its products in a basket of currencies.

America does have allies in OPEC, chiefly the Saudis, but the organization’s rhetoric has not changed in the face of a doubling in oil prices since early 2007. Even last month’s state visit by George Bush to Saudi Arabia could not persuade OPEC to change its tune.

Forbes