Iran to continue bypassing illegal US sanctions

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the Islamic Republic will continue to get around sanctions after the US government penalized dozens of Iranian and foreign companies for violating sanctions imposed on Tehran.

“The [unilateral] sanctions [imposed by the US government] are cruel and illegal and we will keep fulfilling our duty with regards to circumventing the sanctions,” Zanganeh said on Wednesday.

He was reacting to the United States’ Friday announcement of a fresh round of bans on over 25 individuals and companies, including shipping firms, oil companies, airlines and six banks over alleged links with Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The companies targeted by the US sanctions include UAE-based Goldentex FZE, cooperating with Iran’s shipping sector, and Italian firm Dettin SpA, collaborating with Iran’s petrochemical industry.

We do not recognize these sanctions, Zanganeh added.

Iranian officials have said that the new restrictive measures against Iran harm confidence ahead of a new round of nuclear negotiations between the Islamic Republic and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China – plus Germany in New York later this month.

Iran has seen a rise in its oil exports following the implementation of an interim nuclear deal between the country and the six powers.

The Geneva deal sealed between Iran and the six countries last November provided Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for the country agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear energy program.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude.