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13 November 2012 - 22:38

International Energy Agency (IEA) has confirmed increase in Iran’s crude oil production in spite of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s energy sector.

The Paris-based agency, charged with regulating energy policy, said in a report that Iran has signed new oil deals with China and South Korea, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

“China and South Korea appear to account for the lion's share of the increase in Iranian [oil] imports,” the IEA said in its monthly report for October.

The agency noted in its report that a new round of European Union (EU) sanctions targeting Iran’s energy and banking sectors would fail to reduce the country’s oil deliveries.


“With the bulk of Iranian crude now heading to Asia, however, the main impact of the new EU measures will likely be on the country's financial sector,” the IEA said.

In October, Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi dismissed media speculation that the country’s oil production and exports have fallen to about 2.7 million barrels per day, adding that Iran is still producing 4 million barrels per day.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors to prevent other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. The sanctions entered into force in early summer 2012.

Western sanctions have been imposed on Iran based on the false allegation that Iran pursues military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the claim noting that as a member of International Atomic Energy Agency and a committed signatory to Non-Proliferation Treaty it is entitled to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
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News ID 183349