TEHRAN - Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations, said on Thursday that Iran will not relinquish its right to export oil now that the country is under U.S. illegal sanctions.

“Iran will not back down on upholding its right to produce and export oil after imposition of sanctions,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 177th Meeting of the OPEC Conference.

U.S. President Donald Trump quit the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced the harshest ever sanctions on Iran as part of the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran. 

Since April 2019, the Trump administration has gone beyond the pre-nuclear deal sanctions to impose measures that would reduce Iran’s oil export income “to zero.” 

U.S. secondary sanctions now apply to virtually every civilian sector of Iran’s economy

Washington has been pressuring countries not to buy oil from Iran. 

Many analysts and think tanks believe that the maximum pressure policy has failed to achieve concrete results.

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said on Monday that the United States could not cut Iran’s oil sale to zero despite pressure and sanctions.

“Despite maximum economic and psychological pressure, the United States could not cut export of Iran’s oil to zero and we sell our oil through other methods,” he said during a speech at a ceremony held to mark the national day of exportation.

He said that Iranians have stood on their own feet and have resisted economic pressure.

NA/PA