Tehran says national oil exports cannot be deterred by sanctions
Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said Western sanctions cannot halt Iran’s oil exports, as the country is determined to protect its share of the global energy market.
“The country’s oil exports cannot be stopped. We will not compromise on Iran’s share in the world oil market,” Mohajerani wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
She said several ministries are leading a campaign to counter the sanctions, with the Oil Ministry taking center stage.
Mohajerani characterized new US sanctions against Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad as evidence of Washington’s anxiety about Iran’s successful efforts to circumvent previous restrictions.
The US Treasury Department on Thursday issued new sanctions against Iran’s oil minister, and some vessels that are part of a fleet involved in the Iranian crude oil exports.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement Thursday that the sanctions designated Paknejad and three entities engaged in the Iranian oil trade in China, and named three shipping vessels as blocked property for their use in the transactions.
Paknejad “oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export,” the Treasury claimed.
The designated vessels include the Hong Kong-flagged Peace Hill and its owner Hong Kong Heshun Transportation Trading Limited, the Iran-flagged Polaris 1, the Seychelles-registered Fallon Shipping Company Ltd, and the Liberia-registered Itaugua Services Inc.
“Today’s action advances President Trump’s policy of maximum pressure” on the Iranian government, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
The new administration at the White House has escalated these measures since taking office in January, reinstating the so-called maximum pressure policy, a campaign of hybrid warfare targeting the Islamic Republic.
Iran has exported its oil despite the severe sanctions imposed by the US to drive Iran oil exports to zero. The Director General of the Iranian Oil Terminals Company Abbas Assadrouz said on Saturday that all stages of receiving, storing, and exporting oil at Iran’s Kharg Oil Terminal, through which 90 percent of Iran’s oil is exported, are carried out in compliance with the most stringent international standards and under the supervision of advanced laboratories.