BRUSSELS - Saudi Arabia has promised Spain that it will make up for supplies of oil its loses as a result of EU sanctions on Iran and at the same price, Spain's foreign minister said on Monday.
Spain buys about 10 percent of its oil from Iran and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said he had spoken to Spanish oil firms before coming to Brussels for Monday's sanctions decision and they had told him they had secured alternative sources of supply.
RELATED:Iran warns Gulf states not to replace its oilHe also said he had received assurances from Saudi Arabia personally.
"I paid a visit to Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the region which is just as interested as us that Iran does not continue its nuclear escalation," he told a news briefing.
"They (the Saudis) will guarantee the supply and they will maintain the prices."
Garcia-Margallo spoke after EU governments agreed on Monday to an
immediate ban on all new contracts to import, buy or transport Iranian crude oil, to put pressure on Tehran's disputed nuclear program by shutting off its main source of foreign income.
