“Despite these conditions [sanctions], development of the [Iranian] petroleum industry continues more strongly…,” Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said on Friday.
The minister added that Iran has become self-sufficient in manufacturing large parts of equipment needed in major gas and oil projects currently underway in the country.
The Iranian official also hailed the Islamic Republic’s ninth and tenth administrations under the President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for making large investments in the field of oil and gas, despite toughing sanctions by the West.
“Before the sanctions, our country used to import billions of dollars of gasoline every year, but today, several refineries have been inaugurated in the country and more refineries will be launched soon,” Qasemi said.
At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.
The sanctions came into force in early summer 2012.
In November 2012, the US Senate approved a new round of sanctions against Iran's energy, ports, shipping and shipbuilding sectors.
The illegal US-engineered sanctions have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.