“Iran has no problem exporting or selling crude oil,” said Mohsen Qamsari in an interview with Mehr News Agency.
He went on to say that one-year contracts had been signed with Asian and African refineries.
Qamsari added that none of the refineries have reduced or halted Iranian oil imports, saying, “If a refinery, for instance in Japan, has reduced its Iranian oil import another refinery in the same country has signed a new contract to increase oil purchase in 2012.”
He concluded that the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic's oil sector by the West have had no effect on demand for Iranian crude.
On January 23, the EU voted to impose an oil embargo on Iran and froze the Central Bank’s assets in an effort to up pressure on Tehran to suspend its nuclear energy program.
The decision followed the imposition of similar sanctions by the United States on the Iranian energy and financial sectors on New Year’s Eve over accusations that Tehran is seeking a non-civilian diversion in its nuclear energy program.
Iran refutes the allegations, arguing that, as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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The National Iranian Oil Company's (NIOC) Director General for International Affairs says Asian and African refineries have extended all their contracts to buy crude oil from Iran in 2012.
News ID 181724
