Iran Says Has Changed Oil Exports Pattern to Counter US Bans

Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Commission Mohammad-Reza Pour-Ebrahimi said Thursday “the pattern of Iran’s oil exports has undergone changes” by implementing a mechanism to offer crude oil in the Energy Bourse as a countermeasure against the latest US sanctions.

“Over the past 20 days, about one million barrels of our crude oil have been sold to private sector,” he noted, describing the mechanism as a significant initiative.

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He further noted that today the negative impact of US sanctions on Iran’s economy is just 20 percent and with appropriate plans, the Islamic Republic can cope with the situation and control the impacts.

“This time, the US has failed to gain a global consensus on imposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic,” he said.

He said the number of foreign investors willing to purchase Iran’s crude oil has increased over the past weeks despite the US bans.

Pour-Ebrahimi said the parliament’s Economic Commission has already established a sub-committee on sanctions, adding the Islamic Republic has great experiences in bypassing sanctions.

Today no international body has imposed sanctions on Iran, and the US has become isolated over its decision to put sanction on the Islamic Republic, he noted.

The Iranian lawmaker then referred to the Europeans’ plan to establish a financial mechanism to keep their trade ties with Iran in defiance of the US sanctions and said “though we can’t rely on the Europeans, they have already expressed their explicit objection to the US.”

He further described the US sanctions against Iran as hostile and added Iran’s oil exports have always been targeted by the enemies because the exports play a decisive role in Iran’s economy.

“Before the Islamic Revolution, about 70 percent of the government’s budget was provided by oil exports but today the figure has reduced to 30 percent,” he said.

Pour-Ebrahimi then referred to the joint oil reserves between Iran and some Arab states and said “if Iran doesn’t extract oil, the other sides will do so without any hesitation.”

He referred to the growing price of oil in the world and said under previous sanctions against Iran, the oil price reduced dramatically hampering the country’s economy, but this time the prices are high, giving some immunity to the Islamic Republic.