Tehran, Jan 30 : Iran has predicted that global oil prices would increase by 50 per cent following European Union sanctions on crude oil exports.

Ahmed Qalabani, the deputy oil minister, boasted that measures to curtail exports would send oil prices soaring to between 120-150 dollars a barrel, up from 108 dollars, The Telegraph reports.

According to the paper, Iran''s parliament has postponed debate on a proposal to halt oil deliveries to the EU, which accounts for 20 per cent of Tehran''s exports of crude.

Despite postponing the parliamentary debate, Rostam Qasemi, Iran's Energy Minister, promised that exports to some countries, which he did not name, would be ended "soon".

The EU's ban on Iran oil imports is part of efforts by the bloc and the US to pressure the Islamic regime over its nuclear program.

A damning report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency in November accused Iran of military-related atomic activities for the first time.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Karim Abedi, a senior Iranian legislator, said that Iran "would not leave enemies' sanctions unanswered and would impose other sanctions on them in addition to closing Iran''s oil supplies to Europe."

Abedi added that the ban on oil sales to the EU would last between five and 15 years. (ANI)