TEHRAN – Iran is mobilizing all its resources to sell its oil in a gray market, countering unjust and illegitimate U.S. sanctions, IRNA quoted Deputy Oil Minister Amir-Hossein Zamaninia as saying on Sunday.

“This is not smuggling. This is countering sanctions which we do not see as just or legitimate”, Zamaninia said in a conference held at the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. 

“Of course we will not be able to sell 2.5 million barrels of oil like when the sanctions were removed, so we should optimize the country’s financial system by controlling and management”, the official noted.

Mentioning the Europe’s financial mechanism for trade with Iran (known as INSTEX), the deputy minister said, “In Europe, everyone supports the nuclear deal, calling for its continuation. They denounce the U.S.’s withdrawal from this agreement, but they cannot do much [in practice].”

The official also mentioned the possibility of Iran's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, saying, “It [the nuclear deal] is not a contract that we could not get out of, it is a political consensus that each side could leave but there are prices to be paid.”

In May last year, the U.S. brought back sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal which was struck in 2015. 

The United States told buyers of Iranian oil to stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers that had allowed Iran’s biggest customers to import limited volumes.
EF/MA