![Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif speaks during the Valdai Discussion Club titled ''Russia in the Middle East: Playing on All Fields'' in Moscow, Russia on 19 February, 2018 [Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2018_02_19-Russian-Foreign-Minister-Sergey-Lavrov-and-Iranian-Foreign-Minister-Javad-Zarif-20180219_2_28786330_30905069.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said that his country is close to reaching a deal to sell its oil to European countries despite US sanctions, American media reported on Saturday.
Without including many quotes, the New York Times reported Zarif saying: “This is for us to sell our oil and get the proceeds.”
He added that under the 2015 agreement reached between the P5+1 countries and Tehran countries have the legal right to trade with Iran.
When asked whether the US could bring down the current Iranian government with mounting financial pressure, Zarif laughed. The NYT reported him saying: “If the US believed it would have succeeded in such an attack, it would have done so already.”
Read: Major powers, Iran meet to salvage nuclear deal without US