In its monthly oil report released on Wednesday, the Paris-based agency said that Iranian crude imports rose to the “relatively high” level of 1.39 million barrels a day in May from 835,000 barrels a day the previous month.
According to the report, China imported 715,000 barrels a day of Iranian crude last month, which is almost double the 370,000 barrels it imported in April.
The IEA said that Iran’s crude output rose by 30,000 barrels a day in May to 2.68 million barrels a day.
On May 31, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said that illegal US-engineered sanctions had not impacted the Islamic Republic’s crude oil production.
He also stated that the country’s crude oil exports had decreased slightly, but the small amount was being used for the production of oil products for export.
The United States, the Israeli regime and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Over the false allegation, Washington and the European Union have imposed a series of illegal unilateral sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s oil and financial sectors.
Iran rejects the allegation over its nuclear energy program and argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
