Baku, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend:
Iran is selling its oil in the grey market in an effort to bypass the illegal US sanctions, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia said, Trend reports via Tasnim News Agency.
Addressing an academic conference in Tehran, he said that Iran has mobilized all efforts and is selling its oil at the grey market after the US government decided to end the waivers granted to buyers of Iranian crude.
“This is not called smuggling, but rather countering the sanctions which we do not deem fair, legitimate or legal,” he added.
“We discovered a market and are selling oil in a grey atmosphere,” the deputy minister said, stressing that the Islamic Republic will be “capable of resistance” if the government’s policy requires.
“We certainly won’t sell 2.5 million barrels per day as under the (nuclear deal),” Zamaninia said, giving no figures for current sales.
The deputy minister went on to say that the US sanctions against Iran would result in corruption in the global oil market because of reduced transparency.
“We will need to make serious decisions about our financial and economic management, and the government is working on that,” he said.
The US imposed sanctions on Iran in November 2018. The US exempted eight countries from oil sanctions imposed on Iran for six months. These countries continue to buy oil from Iran. The US announced that it will not extend the exemption period, which ended May 2, 2019.