Iran has managed to sell as much oil as it needs: VP Jahangiri

First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri says the United States has failed to fulfill a pledge to cut Iran’s crude exports to “zero,” and that Tehran’s oil sales have remained unaffected by Washington’s sanctions to this day.

“The Americans have constantly said they would bring Iran’s oil sales to zero, but l have to say that we have been able to sell oil as much as we need up until today,” Jahangiri noted in remarks on Tuesday.

The US, he added, was seeking to misrepresent the realities by resorting to a propaganda campaign.

Jahangiri’s remarks came one day after the administration of US President Donald Trump unleashed a second round of sanctions against Iran. The punitive measures targeted 700 individuals, banks, aircraft, ships and companies tied to Iran’s energy and financial industries.

They came months after Washington scrapped the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), despite international objections.

The first round of the anti-Iran bans – which had been lifted under the accord -- were re-imposed in August.

The Trump administration had earlier vowed to reduce Tehran’s oil revenue to zero, but it went back on its pledge and gave waivers to almost all major customers of the country. 

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Elsewhere in his remarks, Jahangiri said that Americans are bent on harming Iran’s economy by waging a psychological war against the Islamic Republic.

He, however, expressed hope that Iran could counter the US “domineering polices” as well as its “illegal and immoral measures.”

The Iranian official also stressed that Iran’s allies are seeking to find ways of defeating US sanctions.

“The Americans have entered the field of sanctions with all their power and capacity, but the important thing is that it (the US) is standing isolated and alone on the world stage,” he said.

"We know no government in Europe, Africa and Asia that officially voices support for US sanctions; except the Zionist regime and a couple of regional countries,” Jahangiri added.

Iran has vowed resistance in the face of Washington’s economic pressure.

It is now in talks with its other five partners in the deal – France, the UK, Germany, Russia and China – to keep the international document alive and blunt the impact of the US bans.

‘US bans target Iranian nation’

In an interview with Press TV, political columnist David William Pear said that the US sanctions are “really putting such hardships on the Iranian people and it is totally unnecessary.”

He also noted that the US has only been isolating itself more and more from the rest of the world by imposing sanctions on Iran.

“I am glad to see that Europe is starting to stand up for themselves and saying that they are going to try to continue trade relations with Iran,” the analyst added. “Those that are going to suffer the most are the Iranian people.”

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