NBC approves Pickens' "Iran" ad after complaint

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NBC Universal approved an advertisement by T. Boone Pickens entitled "Iran" which questions U.S. dependence on foreign oil, after the oil tycoon complained that the network had rejected it.

Pickens said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that the video commercial has been cleared by every U.S. television network except for NBC Universal and called on the unit of General Electric Co to reconsider its rejection.

In the 15-second ad entitled "Iran," Pickens says: "Get this one, Iran is changing its cars to run on natural gas and we're not doing a thing here."

"They're doing this to use less oil and sell it for a $120 a barrel. We can switch our cars to natural gas and stop sending our dollars to foreign countries," says Pickens, a billionaire oil investor who funded the "Swift Boat" attacks on Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.

NBC Universal said it has now cleared all eight versions of the advertisement, and that Pickens released his statement prematurely.

Pickens, a frequent commentator on NBC Universal's cable business channel, CNBC, has said that the ad aimed to educate the public.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Andre Grenon)