TEHRAN - The United States will not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in a parliamentary session on Tuesday, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

“Surely, the dream of zeroing out purchase of oil from Iran will not come true and we will act with all our force to break American sanctions,” Zanganeh asserted.

The oil minister said the United States, in its “aggression against the Iranian nation”, has mainly targeted oil exports and “we must all join hands to emerge victorious” in this battle.

Zanganeh added the U.S. has made a bad mistake by politicizing oil and using it as a weapon.

According to Reuters, oil prices on Tuesday hit their highest level since November after Washington announced all waivers on imports of sanctions-hit Iranian oil would end next week, pressuring importers to stop buying from Tehran and further tightening global supply.

The United States on Monday demanded that buyers of Iranian oil stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers, most of them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes.

The White House said after its Iran move it was working with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to ensure oil markets were “adequately supplied” but traders worried about tight supplies.

Zanganeh said the oil market is unpredictable and the announcement by the United States and its regional supporters intended to keep oil prices stable is a sign of their concern, ISNA reported.

“You can’t be assured that enough oil can be produced to meet demand,” Zanganeh said, according to IRNA. “Because some regional countries announce production capacities higher than their real levels.”

SP/PA