Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 4/ Trend M. Moezzi
Iran is sure to cut off its oil exports to some European countries and has more oil customers than it can accommodate, Fars News Agency quoted the country's oil minister Rostam Ghasemi as saying on Saturday.
Mr Ghasemi's comments repeated Iran's response to the European Union's (EU) decision to stop buying its oil by July 1. The embargo on Iran's oil is part of an international effort to make Iran disclose the true nature of its nuclear activities.
"Those countries that want to stop purchasing Iran's oil in six months are welcome to do so today," Mr Ghasemi said
A world-wide ban on Iran's oil is impossible because of its effect on global markets, and Iran has enough friends to make up for the oil it exports to Europe, 18 percent of its total sales.
Iran's oil sales to China are done with the dollar and the Euro but there isn't a problem with using another currency, the oil minister said and added that there has been no serious drop in the volume of oil China buys from Iran
There is no shortage of foreign currency in Iran because it imports $40 to $50 billion in goods and exports $100 to $120 billion annually.