AFP TEHRAN A EUROPEAN Union decision to impose a ban on Iranian oil will not affect Iran’s economy and will only increase crude prices, Iranian lawmakers said on Monday.

“The imposition of oil sanctions on Iran will only serve some American and European politicians. It will not have any effect on Iran’s economy,” Ali Adyani, a member of parliament’s energy commission, told Fars news agency.

Adyani said Iran would still be able to sell its oil to “any country” despite the ban, and that the implementation of new sanctions would cause a hike in oil prices, Fars reported.

Another member of the commission, Hassan Shabanpour, rejected the European decision as “propaganda,” telling the parliament’s website that Saudi Arabia would not be able to compensate for Iran’s oil exports to Europe.

Meanwhile a former Iranian intelligence minister, Ali Fallahian, told Fars that the best solution to counter the new measures was to stop exporting oil to Europe before the bloc is able to find a replacement for Iranian oil.

“It would disrupt the Europeans’ plans and (efforts) to impose sanctions” on Iranian oil, he said.

By mid-afternoon no Iranian government official had yet reacted to the new sanctions.

The EU on Monday agreed to slap an embargo on Iranian oil exports as the West ramped up pressure on Tehran over its nuclear drive and urged it to return to the negotiating table.