Iraq stood firm on its refusal to cut oil output.

Iraqi Oil Minister Kassim Ahmed Taki, returning to Baghdad from the OPEC conference in Geneva, said his nation would not cut its oil output even though the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to limit its collective production to 15.8 million barrels a day for six months. Taki said his nation supported efforts to raise prices to $18 a barrel, but “not at the expense of Iraq.” Meanwhile, Tehran Radio reported that Iranian Oil Minister Gholamreza Aghazadeh said that if Saudia Arabia failed in its efforts to persaude Iraq to comply with the new quotas, Iran would try to have Iraq expelled from OPEC.