Asian benchmark 180-centistoke fuel oil rose to a record on higher benchmark Dubai crude and lower supplies in the Middle East after Iran cut exports.

Tehran said that expansion of relations with the Arab countries underpins its foreign policy.

The Middle-East peace conference has been designed to help Israel get rid of its present political isolation, Iran’s ambassador to Thailand Mohsen Pak Ayeen said, adding that the US neoconservatives are striving to hide their political failures by making such a move.