Iran renews offer to help with Gulf spill

Source UPI

Iranian energy companies stand ready to help respond to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico if asked by U.S. officials, Iranian oil executives said. Mehran Alinejad, the director of drilling operations at the National Iranian Drilling Co., said Iranian companies had experience controlling vast oil spills in the region. He told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that technical teams in Iran had "major achievements in oil well capping." "There is, at any rate, an ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and its negative consequences will affect everyone," he added. "That is why if we receive a suitable response from relevant (U.S.) officials we can examine the issue and contribute to its resolution." NIDC officials said in early May that Iran was ready to overlook the U.S. push for new sanctions at the U.N. Security Council as there is an urgent need for action in the southern coastal regions.