As long as sanctions are in effect, Iran will not be a party to any agreement reached in the meetings of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) organization on the production level, said the Iranian Minister of Petroleum in Vienna on Thursday, Trend reports referring to IRNA.
'Iran has always supported OPEC to stabilize the oil price, but in the current situation, as stated before, Iran will not take part in any decision regarding the production level,' said Bijan Zangeneh upon arriving Vienna.
Zangeneh is in Vienna to participate in the 175th meeting of OPEC.
'There are several suggestions about reducing production, which need to be examined to be decided on,' said Zangeneh.
He avoided commenting on the amount of Iran's oil export, and said that this will cause the US to pressure Iran more.
'If Brian Hook is in Vienna regarding US' request to become an OPEC member, the request is examinable; but if they want to pressure Iran through OPEC, it is quite non-professional,' he said.
'OPEC is an independent organization, not a part of the US Treasury; it is not controlled by Washington.'
Regrading Qatar's withdrawal from OPEC, Zangeneh said, 'Iran is not happy with it and doesn’t know the reasons behind that.'
Answering a question if Iran is to leave OPEC, he said, 'Iran is a founding-member of OPEC and will not quit it.'
He also said that he welcomes meeting with the Russian minister of oil.
Regarding the Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers to reduce production, he said that it is just a statement of cooperation and nothing more.
OPEC members meeting will be held on Thursday, as member and non-member producers are to convene on Friday.
Zangeneh left Tehran on Wednesday for Austria to attend the 175th OPEC meeting.
In the upcoming meeting, member-states are to mull over various issues such as decrease in oil production to below one million barrels.