Getting your player ready...
HOUSTON — Asian countries that are Iran’s biggest oil customers have been assured that if they yield to pressure from Washington and curtail purchases, Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbors will fill any gap in energy supplies, adding heft to the U.S. efforts to choke off Iran’s petroleum exports, its primary source of revenue. The assurances from the Persian Gulf nations were offered to China, Japan and South Koreawhich together buy about half of Iran’s oil — after each expressed concern that loss of energy resources could undermine their own economies. Japan pledged Thursday to cut oil imports from Iran in response to a plea from visiting U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
