Friday 26 December 2014  Iran says US fuel sanctions move will
fail  Tehran, December 16, 2009  A senior Iranian oil official
said on Wednesday a move by US lawmakers to target the Islamic
Republic with fuel sanctions would not cause any problems
because Tehran had many suppliers.  On Tuesday, the US House of
Representatives approved legislation to impose sanctions on
foreign companies that help to supply fuel to Iran, a measure
lawmakers hope will deter the country from pursuing its nuclear
programme.  "They cannot succeed," said Hojjatollah Ghanimifard,
vice president of investment affairs at the state National
Iranian Oil Company. "We have a long list of suppliers of
gasoline," he told Reuters.  Iran is the world's fifth-largest
oil exporter, but lacks sufficient refining capacity to meet
domestic fuel needs, forcing it to import up to 40 percent of
its gasoline consumption.  This burdens the budget and also
makes it vulnerable to any punitive measures that targets the
trade, although Iranian officials hav