“The US will undoubtedly have no option but to retreat from Iran's oil embargo,” Mohammad-Reza Mir-Tajeddini said on Friday.
“In a clear retreat, the US exempted 11 countries from oil sanctions against Iran. The hostile US policy of imposing sanctions on the Iranian oil sector is, undoubtedly, a failure,” he added.
The vice president emphasized that oil sanctions against Iran failed because many countries regard promotion of their energy diplomacy through receiving oil from Iran due to the country’s international position.
On the New Year’s Eve, Washington imposed new sanctions on Iran to penalize countries for importing Iranian oil or doing trade with its central bank.
On March 20, however, US exempted 11 nations, including 10 European Union (EU) members and Japan, from tough new sanctions on Iran since, as Washington says, they have reduced oil purchase from Tehran.
The exemption covers financial institutions from Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. The most important countries that have not been included on the exemption list are China, India and South Korea.
China is the biggest buyer of the Iranian crude and figures released by US Department of Energy show that about 22 percent of Iranian oil exports go to the East Asian country.
Mir-Tajeddini lauded the increasing progress and accomplishments in Iran’s oil industry and said the country is among the main oil suppliers in the world.
Enemies are well aware that they cannot block the rapid progress of Iran's development and advancement and they have always suffered a defeat against the Islamic Iran, he pointed out.
The US and EU have imposed tough financial and oil sanctions against Iran since the beginning of 2012, alleging that the country’s nuclear energy program may have a military aspect.
Tehran refutes the allegations, noting that frequent inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency have failed to prove any diversion in Iran’s nuclear energy program for military purposes.
press tv/281
Iranian Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs has downplayed sanctions against the Islamic Republic, stressing an embargo on Tehran’s oil sector has been defeated “in practice.”
News ID 181626
