Iran not sending representative to OPEC meet: minister

Iran will not be sending any representative to a key oil summit in Doha aimed at negotiating a production freeze, Tehran's petroleum minister said today.

"The Doha meeting is for people who want to participate in the production freeze plan... But since Iran isn't expected to sign up to the plan the presence of an Iranian representative isn't necessary," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the Shana news agency.

Tehran, which is aiming to increase crude output after the lifting of nuclear-related Western sanctions, had said Friday it would send its OPEC representative to the talks in Qatar that were due to start today.