Oil minister says Europe not buying Iran oil despite US waivers

“Among the Europeans, except for Turkey, no other nation has purchased oil from Iran. Greece and Italy refuse to buy Iran’s oil despite winning waivers. And they don’t respond to our correspondence,” said the oil minister at a press conference on Tuesday.

He said the US had embarked on a unilateral war against Iran’s petroleum industry.

“They intend to cut our export revenues down to zero, and if any revenue was made, they would block any money transfer,” he added.

Pressed by journalists to say how much oil Iran was exporting after the US reimposed oil sanctions on the country last November, Zanganeh said “I don’t announce any figure about oil exports.”

The minister also said he would not reveal how the ministry would skirt the US sanctions.

Zanganeh further condemned the US sanctions against Venezuela’s state-run oil company; “We condemn the US [punitive] actions against Venezuela. Nonetheless, these actions have affected the oil market,” he said.