More credit tightening and higher oil prices on the way ?.................
Iran 'moves assets out of Europe'
Iran has started moving its foreign exchange reserves out of Europe in a bid to shield the country from the threat of sanctions, reports suggest.
Iran's central bank governor said the country had begun withdrawing assets from European banks, the Iranian Students News Agency reported.
Iran is embroiled in a row with the US and European Union over allegations it is attempting to build nuclear weapons.
Separately, Iran called for the Opec oil producing cartel to cut its output.
Oil prices in New York are currently at a four-month high of more than $67 a barrel.
Shifting assets
Iranian central bank governor Ebrahim Sheibani revealed earlier in the week that Iran had begun the process of shifting its assets from Europe, the Iranian Students News Agency said on Friday.
Iran has started withdrawing money from European banks and transferring it to other banks abroad
Iranian official
"We transfer foreign currency reserves related to all sectors including oil foreign exchanges to wherever it is good for us and we have started this transfer," the agency quoted him saying.
"Iran has started withdrawing money from European banks and transferring it to other banks abroad, " a senior Iranian official told the Reuters agency.
It was not immediately clear where the assets were being moved to, although reports have suggested that Iranian funds could be heading out of Europe to Asia.
The UN's atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Authority, will hold an emergency meeting on 2 February to discuss whether to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council.
Threat of sanctions
The council has the power to impose international trade or diplomatic sanctions against Iran.
Iran denies US and European allegations that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons, claiming it wants the technology for energy purposes alone.
Iran's assets in the US were frozen after the revolution of 1979, which saw the pro-Western Shah toppled and a clerical regime installed in Tehran.
Iran, which is currently the organisation's second-biggest exporter, has also proposed that Opec nations slash crude production by a million barrels a day from April.
Supporters of the proposal argue that world oil markets are already oversupplied, but critics have suggested Tehran is keen to flex its muscles given the country's current tense relations with the West.