Iran cuts oil to Spain ahead of nuclear talks

Iran has cut oil exports to Spain and may halt sales to Germany and Italy, Iran's English-language state television reported on Tuesday, in an apparent move to strengthen its position ahead of crucial talks with world powers later this week.

Iran has played a tit-for-tat game over crude shipments since the European Union agreed in January that it would stop all Iranian oil imports as of July. EU states have since scrambled to find alternative supplies before that deadline, with Iran threatening to cut exports before then.

"Tehran has cut oil supply to Spain after stopping crude export to Greece as part of its counter-sanctions," Press TV said, citing unidentified sources, adding that a similar move was being considered for Germany and Italy.

Industry sources say Spain and Greece have already cut imports substantially in anticipation of the embargo and because of increasing difficulties in paying Iran after tough new sanctions were imposed on its banking sector.

The EU had been the second biggest buyer of Iranian oil after China and its embargo is a direct strike on the OPEC member's biggest source of export income.

The sanctions are designed to force Iran to stop some of the atomic work that the EU and the United States suspect is part of a nuclear weapons programme, a charge Tehran denies.

Talks between Iran and six world powers aimed at easing the nuclear stand-off are set to resume in Istanbul on Saturday, more than a year after previous negotiations failed.