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Sechin: Imposing unilateral sanctions on others not acceptable

Rosneft oil company CEO Igor Sechin attends a joint press conference of Russian President and Italian Prime Minister at the Kremlin in Moscow on October 24, 2018. / AFP / POOL / Sergei CHIRIKOV

Chief Executive Officer of Russia's largest oil producer Rosneft says the decision by some European companies to cut their ties with Iran under US pressure could end up hurting Europe’s economy.

In a Thursday address to a forum in the Italian town of Verona, Igor Sechin slammed any unilateral sanction imposed by certain powers on other states under various pretexts and said the decision by some European firms to cut their cooperation with Iran including refusal to import oil from the country under US pressure could have serious consequences for Europe’s economy.

He went on further saying that the US may respond positively to requests by some of its close economic allies for getting sanctions waivers and added given the current boost in oil output in the global market, the US is highly likely to grant some exceptions when it comes to Iran’s oil sanctions which are going to take effect as of November 4.

Sechin also said imposing unilateral sanctions on other states without the United Nations Security Council's approval has turned into a weapon at the hands of some powers against others, adding this trend could jeopardize the fate of countries.

“This leaves no room for any dialogue. I highly recommend our economic partners to lose no chance for dialogue because unilateral sanctions will only undermine economic and political independence of states and this is unacceptable,” he noted.

Back in May, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal despite objections from other signatories of the accord.

In August, he re-imposed the first round of sanctions on Iran, with the second phase due to come into effect early next month. 

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday dismissed concerns that oil prices could rise, saying the market had already factored in the loss of Iranian oil.   

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, however, admitted that his country will not be able to make up for all losses once the US re-imposes its sanctions against Iran.


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