Europe can weather loss of Iran oil, EC man says

The European Community's energy chief said Thursday he saw nothing to fear in Iran's decision to sell oil to the Soviet bloc instead of the West. Guido Brunner, one of the EC's 13 commissioners, said the switch of Iranian sales would for a time mean less Eastern competition to the West for other supplies in the world. The nine-nation Common Market Tuesday agreed to impose an economic boycott on Iran if there was no "decisive" progress by May 17 toward releasing the US Embassy hostages in Tehran.