‘Oil sanctions are nothing new to Iran’

Iran’s oil minister says the proposed sanctions on the Iranian oil sector by the US and its European allies is nothing new as the country has become accustomed to sanctions over the years.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of signing new oil and gas contracts, Rostam Qasemi said nothing new is going to happen with oil sanctions because Iran has been, and still is, subject to such sanctions.

On Monday, Pars Oil and Gas Company, a subsidiary of the Iranian Oil Ministry, signed a USD182-million contract with the Global Petrotech Company for drilling two appraisal wells in the oil layer of South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar.

“In all the years that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been subject to various sanctions, good use has been made of the opportunity of sanctions,” he added.

“Despite this (sanctions) we will push ahead with our projects every day better than the past,” Qasemi said.

On Monday, November 21, the United States and Britain imposed new sanctions targeting Iran’s financial and energy sectors after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released its latest report on Tehran’s nuclear program on November 8.

IAEA Director General Amano claimed in his report that Iran had been engaged in activities related to developing nuclear weapons before 2003, and these activities “may still be ongoing.”

The British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said the White Hall has terminated all contacts between the UK’s financial system and the entire Iranian banking system, adding that all UK credit and financial institutions have been required to cease business relationships and transactions with all Iranian banks, including the Central Bank of Iran.

The US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner announced the same day that Washington had imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s oil and petrochemicals industry and the Iranian companies supplying Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Financial institutions around the world should think hard about the risks of doing business with Iran,” Geithner added.

The new unilateral measures came after a failed attempt by the US and its allies to take Iran’s case to the UN Security Council.

The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to convince the UN Security Council to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.

Tehran has categorically refuted Western allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it has the right to acquire and develop atomic technology for peaceful purposes.