TEHRAN – The latest data released by the European Union's statistics office (Eurostat) show that the Islamic Republic exported oil to two European countries in 2023 despite the U.S. sanctions, IRNA reported.

According to Eurostat, despite the sanctions on the Iranian oil industry by the European Union, Bulgaria, as an official member of this union, imported oil from Iran in 2023. In 2022, Bulgaria imported only 168 tons of oil or oil products from Iran, but in 2023, the import of oil or oil products from Iran increased six times to 1058 tons.

Although the amount of Bulgaria's oil imports from Iran in 2023 is not a significant figure, it indicates the willingness of EU members to ignore the sanctions against Iran.

Eurostat statistics also show that Georgia, as an observer member of the European Union, imported 4,438 tons of oil or oil products from Iran last year. Georgia's oil import from Iran has grown by six percent compared to the previous year.

Georgia had imported 4,161 tons of oil or oil products from Iran in 2022.

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