Germany urges restraint after Iran oil stop threat

Germany on Sunday called for restraint from Iran amid an escalation in tensions over Tehran'' s threat to cut off oil exports to Europe. "The crisis-wracked European Union would not allow Iran to push it into a corner with a potential cut in oil supplies," Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told the "Welt am Sonntag" ("World on Sunday") German newspaper. "In Iran we are seeing a regrettable and dangerous escalation in rhetoric," he said. He also urged Iran''s leaders to recognize that they have the key to reducing tensions in their hands. Westerwelle said the EU would not allow "threats" to lead it away from "the path of decisiveness against Iran acquiring an atomic weapon". "We will find ways in the EU to compensate for delivery stoppages," added the German top diplomat. Iranian lawmakers on Sunday delayed taking action on a proposed bill to immediately cut oil exports to Europe in retaliation for an EU oil embargo, the parliament''s energy commission said. Iran has threatened to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of the world''s supply of oil is shipped through the strategic waterway.