Sanctions have no effect on Iran oil sector, minister says

International sanctions on Iran have not damaged its oil sector, the country's Oil Minister Massoud Mirkazemi said Thursday in Vienna, DPA reported.

Western oil firms announced last month that they would cut business ties in Iran, avoiding possible sanctions under a US law aimed at discouraging foreign companies from investing in the country's energy sector.

"No impact whatsoever," Mirkazemi answered when reporters asked about these and other sanctions at a conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The minister warned that countries were hurting themselves by targeting Iran's oil sector. "Energy security without Iran has no meaning," he said.

Iran has enough of its own capacity for processing oil and is planning to build six new refineries in the next three years, he added.

The UN Security Council passed a fourth round of sanctions in June to pressure the Islamic republic to halt its contentious nuclear programme.

Besides the United States, the European Union also topped this decision with additional punitive measures that focus on the oil industry and other sectors.