Iran minister: Turkey is the only European country importing our oil

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said yesterday that Turkey is the only European country that imports Iranian oil since US sanctions were introduced in November.

The United States has exempted Turkey, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan as well as Greece and Italy from sanctions imposed on purchasing Iranian oil, however the Iranian minister said Greece and Italy do not import oil from Tehran.

“We have called them many times, but they do not return our calls,” Zanganeh said in reference to Greece and Italy.

The US imposed the second package of sanctions on Iran in November 2018, they included limitations on the energy, finance and shipping sectors.

READ: US sanctions cannot hurt Turkey-Iran ties says Erdogan

According to OPEC figures, Iran’s oil production fell to 2.76 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, down from 3.8 million bpd before May 2018.

The Iranian minister also revealed that Iraq owes Iran $2 billion for natural gas and electricity exports.