TEHRAN – Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh hailed on Tuesday the recent OPEC deal to stabilize the oil market, seeing it an outcome of the international deal over Iran’s nuclear program.

“Fortunately, we managed to increase output and this is an outcome of BARJAM (the Persian acronym for the nuclear deal),” said Zanganeh at a parliamentary hearing. 

The world's largest oil exporters agreed on November 30 to cut output to a maximum of 32.5 million barrels per day for the first time in eight years to erode a global supply overhang. 

Many experts came to see the freeze deal a victory for Iran over archrival Saudi Arabia, which agreed to bear the lion's share of the cuts. 

Iran, Libya and Nigeria were all given special dispensation not to join in with the reduction, as the three are still fighting to boost their exports and regain market share. 

Emerging from years of the sanctions regime over its nuclear program, Tehran had insisted it won’t cut output before it could claw back its share of the global oil market, grabbed by its regional Arab rivals during a decade-long of low production and international presence. 

AK/PA