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Oil minister: Crude exports not to cease despite intrigues
Speaking on Monday during a rally marking the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Paknejad said the glorious Islamic Revolution began under the leadership of Imam Khomeini and continues under the guidance of Ayatollah Khamenei.
The minister also criticized Trump’s failed policy of maximum pressure, which he said is being attempted again.
Regarding the US president’s goal of reducing Iran’s oil exports to zero, Paknejad said this is an unattainable wish.
The minister also pointed out that over the past 46 years, Iran’s oil industry has achieved greater self-sufficiency and independence.
He recalled that at the beginning of the revolution, foreigners did not believe Iranians could manage the oil industry after they left. However, Iran has not only managed it but has also achieved self-sufficiency in equipment manufacturing, development operations, production, and all upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.
In remarks on Sunday, Paknejad said the US once experienced the futility of its maximum pressure policy on Iran during Trump’s first term in office in 2016-20.
“They want to test it one more time and they will fail again,” said the minister.
The comments came several days after Trump announced he would use Washington’s unilateral regime of sanctions to disrupt Iran’s oil flows to markets in Asia and elsewhere.
Trump enacted a first round of sanctions on Iran’s oil exports in 2018, causing the country’s oil exports to drop for a brief period in late 2019 and in early 2020.
However, Iranian oil exports have gradually returned to pre-sanctions levels in recent years with estimates suggesting that the country is shipping more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, mostly to customers in China.