Iran’s Minister of Oil warned today that sanctions on Iranian oil will lead to a leap in the price of oil on the global market and he called on the West to move wisely in this regard.
Rostam Ghassemi spoke at the opening of Tehran’s Friday Mass Prayers, saying that EU sanctions on Iranian oil have already driven up oil prices.
U.S. sanctions against Iran will take effect on June 28, and the EU oil embargo begins on July 1.
Iranian officials insist they are in no way concerned about the sanctions or the market for their petroleum exports.
Ghassemi, who was head of the Khatam-ol-Anbia financial group linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, says Iran "with the support of the Supreme Leader will triumph in the economic war waged against it by the West."
The United States has managed to make a significant dent in Iran’s oil market, convincing many countries to completely boycott Iranian oil and others to sharply reduce their imports.
Ghassemi added that Iran’s enemies have long been intent on stopping Iran’s oil and gas developments and now they are also trying to restrict its oil market.
Ghassemi said the vacuum created by Shell and Total’s withdrawal from contracts to develop Southern Pars has been filled by domestic contractors, and Iran’s oil industry will soon become self sufficient.
The IRGC-based company Khatam-ol-Anbia has taken over many oil-sector contracts in recent years.
While the Iranian economy is heavily dependent on its oil exports, recent sanctions have caused a sharp rise in the price of oil, which has created an unprecedented rise in Iran’s oil revenues, according to reports from the Central Bank of Iran.
Despite a fall in Iran’s oil production, its oil revenues are reportedly on a sharp rise.
