TEHRAN- Iran drafted a deal with South Africa for the sales of oil to the African country, according to Seyed Mohsen Qamsari, the director for international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

The official said South Africa is ahead of all countries that have negotiated with Iran for the purchase of oil once the west-led sanctions are lifted against the Islamic Republic, the Shana News Agency reported on Wednesday.

All foreign delegations, that visited Iran after the nuclear deal for negotiations on post-sanction cooperation with the country, have declared eagerness to buy Iran’s oil and gas condensate, Qamsari stated.

Iran will become a major exporter of gas condensate in the world when the sanctions are removed, he highlighted.

In a meeting with Mansour Mo’azzami, the Iranian deputy oil minister for planning and supervision affairs, in Tehran on August 30, South African Deputy Energy Minister Thembisile Majola said her country is keen to expand relations with Iran in oil and petrochemical industries once sanctions against the Islamic Republic are lifted.

Iran was the major exporter of crude oil to South Africa before the sanctions. The African country imported about 380,000 barrels of oil per day from Iran in the pre-sanction era. 

South Africa was the first leading importer of Iran’s crude oil in Africa and ninth in the world, before the West imposed sanctions on Iran’s economy.  

In a meeting with South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson in Tehran on April 28, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Iran-South Africa oil ties will be expanded in the post-sanction era. 

Joemat-Pettersson, for her part, said South Africa is seeking to sign a comprehensive agreement with Iran in the field of energy. 

MA/