Minister: Gas Condensate Sanction Only To Appease Congress

Tehran, Sept 10, IRNA – Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the U.S. sanction on the sale of Iran’s gas condensate was already in force and had never been suspended. He said the U.S. administration had formally announced it in a propaganda move to appease the Congress. Speaking to the press after signing a memorandum of understanding for economic cooperation between Iran and Russia in Tehran, Zanganeh said at present the volume of Iran-Russia trade stands at $1.5 billion which is expected to increase by 10 fold in coming years. Stressing that political relations required strong economic ties, he said Russian companies are interested in Iranian oil industry. As for Iran-Iraq cooperation on oil exports, the Iranian oil minister said Iraq has not asked for Iran’s assistance on export of its oil so far. He also pointed to the possibility of delay in exporting gas to Iraq and said the current situation has blocked export of Iranian gas to that country because part of the region is under the control of Daesh terrorist group. Referring to the increase in gas exports to Turkey, Zanganeh said no agreement has been reached yet on raising Iran’s exports to Turkey. Commenting over Turkey’s gas complaint to The Hague against Iran, he said: “We should get prepared for defense against possible complaints in gas agreements and should defend soundly in order to achieve our interests.” With regard to export of gas to Pakistan the Iranian oil minister said Pakistan will not receive gas from Iran by the end of the year as construction of pipeline has not been commenced yet. Pakistan has asked for a 2.5-year delay and negotiations between Tehran and Islamabad are underway in this regard. The Obama administration on Friday imposed sanctions on Faylaca Petroleum and several individuals for collaborating to 'obscure the origin of Iranian gas condensate,' the sale of which is restricted under current US sanctions against Iran. The administration also sanctioned several shipping companies involved in 'surreptitious' sales of Iranian crude, in violation of existing sanctions, as well as five Iranian banks. US officials said the new sanctions are designed to maintain pressure on Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. The US and five other major world powers, known as the P5+1, are currently trying to hash out a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran, and they have credited stiff sanctions that target Iran's oil and gas sector. In addition to the US, the P5+1 includes the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, China, France, Russia and the UK, as well as Germany./end