Iran's jets denied fuel over economic sanctions

BP has blocked refueling Iranian jets in response to U.S. sanctions, a move that comes after enormous public backlash over the handling of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, say news reports.

Last week, President Barack Obama signed economic sanctions geared to isolate Iran because of its nuclear program. Reuters is reporting that Britain's Financial Times said the company stopped refueling Iranian jets.

BP didn't confirm the report, but told Reuters that it complies fully with "any international sanctions imposed in countries where we operate."

Financial analyst Samuel Ciszuk told Reuters that BP could be "trying to be pro-active in managing political relations in the U.S. which are already under tremendous strain because of the Gulf (of Mexico) spill."

An Iranian official said on Monday that that country's planes were banned from Germany, Britain and the United Arab Emirates. But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast during a news conference Tuesday denied that countries were refusing to fuel planes.

Meanwhile the European Union banned most of Iran Air's jets from flying to Europe because of safety issues. The move comes after an audit and includes the airline's Boeing 727s, 747s and Airbus 320s, according to the Associated Press.