Minister: Iran's oil industry can thwart sanctions
"I believe America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA would lead to no significant development with regards to Iran's exports of oil and condensate,” Zangeneh said on Thursday evening.
He reiterated that Iran’s foreign currency revenues would be maintained as envisaged in the national budget bill.
"Iran's oil industry is in a far better shape than before and can resist the sanctions that Washington plans to renew," Zangeneh said.
He reiterated that threatening Iran with sanctions against its oil industry was an issue of the past, and said, "The country had already been able to safeguard itself against such threats over the past few years."
Zangeneh's remarks came after an announcement by US President Donald Trump that he would take America out of a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and move towards re-imposing what he described a series of strong sanctions against the country. The sanctions would include a ban over purchasing oil from Iran as well as restrictions over investments in the country’s energy sector.
The nuclear agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), envisaged removing sanctions against Iran in return for certain steps by the country to restrict certain aspects of its nuclear energy activities.
Over the past few years, Trump criticized the former administration of President Barack Obama for sealing the JCPOA with Iran, what constantly described as a flawed deal.
On Tuesday, Trump signed a memo that triggered proceedings to take his country out of an agreement that America had signed with Iran together with its European allies – Britain, Germany and France - as well as Russia and China.
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