TEHRAN - Delcy Rodriguez, the Venezuelan foreign minister, in a meeting with her Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said her country respects Iran’s claim for its share of global crude oil market, the Fras news agency reported on Sunday.

In the meeting, which was held on Saturday in Tehran, the Venezuelan minister stated, “In talks between Caracas and members of OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), we have always recognized Iran's right to return its oil production ceiling to the previous figure”.

Zarif, for his part, noted that the imposed sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program have caused problems for the country in the oil sector, saying that “Tehran currently seeks to revive its previous capacities”.

Iran has maintained that it is targeting the production of four million barrels per day (bpd) in the new Iranian year (started on March 20).

Further in the event Zarif said, “Tehran has always maintained good relations with Caracas,” adding, “We are ready to further enhance mutual relations within the framework of common interests.”

Rodriguez also noted, “We are prepared to boost our cooperation in pharmaceutical, mining and banking areas and also opening credit lines, in this new era of relations between the two countries”.

It is worth mentioning that on Friday, Iran's Oil Ministry announced that its head Bijan Zanganeh would skip the meeting of oil producers on freezing global oil outputs in the Qatari capital of Doha in Sunday.

Meanwhile, Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and Mines Eulogio del Pino also told reporters that Venezuela respects Iran's position regarding the proposals to freeze oil output.

EF/MA