Iran to stop oil exports to six EU countries causing prices to rise The price of a barrel of Brent crude jumped by $1.76 to $119 after the Iranian regime decided to pre-empt the imposition of an EU oil embargo, due to come into effect on 1 July, by unilaterally halting sales to the country's biggest European customers. State television said that sales to those three countries had been "cut," along with exports to France, Portugal and the Netherlands, all of which buy only token amounts of Iranian crude. This could have serious consequences, particularly for the Greek economy. The Iranian imports had been arranged on preferential terms, so any alternative supplies will probably be more costly. But Iran will also be depriving itself of significant oil revenues and rendering the most important sector of its national economy almost entirely dependent on a handful of big Asian buyers, particularly India and China. By forcing up the oil price, however, Iran may hope to compensate for any fall in exports. The regime also claimed a significant advance in its nuclear programme on Wednesday, installing new fuel rods in a civilian research reactor and claiming to have developed a more advanced model of centrifuge. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was shown on state television on Wednesday visiting the Tehran Research Reactor, a facility designed to produce medical isotopes for cancer treatment, where fuel rods were being installed. In addition, Iran said that it would soon unveil a new variety of centrifuge, capable of enriching uranium much faster than the existing models. However, experts are deeply sceptical of these announcements, believing they are symbolic gestures of defiance, not real step forwards in Iran's nuclear capabilities. State television in Tehran showed live coverage of Mr Ahmadinejad's visit to the research reactor, hailing the installation of the fuel rods as a "sign of Iranian scientists' achievements."