TEHRAN – Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the European Union mechanism for trade with Iran, known as INSTEX, is not going to be useful without including oil sales.

“Without oil deal, it’s very clear, Instex will not work,” Zanganeh said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Vienna on Tuesday.

The official further noted that although U.S. sanctions has put some pressure on the Iranian oil industry, however NIOC is taking all necessary measures to make sure that the country’s oil exports stay afloat.

Iran is striving “day and night to find ways” to export its oil, Zanganeh said.

Zanganeh who visited Vienna to attend the 176th meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), on Monday expressed satisfaction with the meeting and said “We achieved what we were seeking from this meeting. Iran was once again exempted from the cuts.”

On June 28, the remaining signatories of the nuclear agreement met in the Austrian capital as a last-ditch effort to save the accord after the U.S. withdrew last year.
They announced in a statement that the European Union mechanism for trade with Iran is up and running.

European Union foreign policy Chief Federica Mogherini has said that INSTEX has become operational and is processing the first transactions. With INSTEX going operational, Iran expects Europe to buy its oil through this mechanism.

The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers, aiming to cut Iran’s sales to zero.

The United States also 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.
However, in the same month, Iranian oil ministry announced that the country is mobilizing all its resources to sell its oil in a gray market, countering unjust and illegitimate U.S. sanctions.

EF/MG