TEHRAN, Sept 29: Iran will not use energy ties to punish India for voting against the Islamic state at the UN nuclear watchdog, a senior oil ministry official said on Thursday. India backed an International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) resolution, passed on Saturday, requiring Iran be reported in the future to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, after Tehran failed to convince the world its atomic work was peaceful.

China, Russia and South Africa, which had supported Iran, abstained from the vote, while India surprised all by voting for the resolution against traditional ally Iran.

Iran’s deputy Oil Minister Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian, echoing other officials’ comments in the recent days, denied reports that Iran would punish energy-hungry India by calling off its energy contracts.

“There has been no order for change of policy regarding natural gas projects with India,”

Mr Nejad-Hosseinian told the semi-official Fars news agency.—Reuters