Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.4 /Trend, F.Milad/
Iran's private sector will soon launch an oil tanker fleet in order to curb the sanctions and boost the country's oil exports, head of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union said on Saturday.
Once the fleet comes on stream, the private sector's oil exports will be increased up to 300 percent, the PANA News Agency quoted Hassan Khosrojerdi as saying.
On October 23, Khosrojerdi said that the country's private sector will soon export several new oil consignments to international markets despite the illegal US-led sanctions against the country.
"Currently, negotiations with foreign companies for the export of several new oil shipments by the private sector have concluded and of several new oil shipments will soon be sent to the target markets," he explained.
Using domestic oil tankers and insurance companies, the Iranian private sector has exported over 20 million barrels of light and heavy crude to the international markets over the past four months, Khosrojerdi added .
On January 23, under pressure from the United States, the European Union's foreign ministers approved new sanctions against Tehran. The sanctions, which prevent all the EU member states from purchasing Iran's oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1.
Iranian officials have repeatedly described the sanctions against the Islamic Republic as ineffective.
Despite illegal sanctions on Iran, the country has easily managed to find new substitutes for EU customers of Iranian oil and gas.
The sanctions have been imposed under the pretext that Iran is seeking to acquire a military nuclear capability. Tehran has rejected such allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have never found any diversion in its nuclear energy program toward military purposes.