The market is full of oil and the rising price trend is "fake and imposed", Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today.
"At a time when the growth of consumption is lower than the growth of production and the market is full of oil, prices are rising and this trend is completely fake and imposed," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, has repeatedly said the market is well-supplied with crude and blames rising prices on speculation, weakness of the US dollar and geopolitical factors.
"As you know the decrease in the dollar's value and the increase in energy prices are two sides of the same coin which are being introduced as factors behind the recent instability," Mr Ahmadinejad said.
Oil steadied today after touching a record near $140 the previous day, with traders caught between a weaker dollar and expectations that top exporter Saudi Arabia will ramp up output to its highest rate in decades.
US crude slipped 15 cents to $134.46 a barrel by 6am after ending 25 cents lower on yesterday, as traders quickly took profit from a rally to a record $139.89 triggered by a falling dollar and the closure of a North Sea oil platform.