Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Iran said on Tuesday it would stop oil exports if pressure from Western sanctions got any tighter and it had a "Plan B" contingency strategy to survive without oil revenues, Reuters reported.

Western nations led by the United States have imposed tough sanctions on the Islamic Republic this year in an attempt to curb its nuclear program that they say is designed to produce an atomic bomb. Tehran says its nuclear plans are peaceful.

"If sanctions intensify we will stop exporting oil," Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi told reporters in Dubai.

"We have prepared a plan to run the country without any oil revenues," he said, adding, "So far to date we haven't had any serious problems, but if the sanctions were to be renewed we would go for 'Plan B'.

He said if the West continues to add to the sanctions Iran will cut its oil exports to the world.

Earlier on Tuesday, Qasemi said Iran was still producing 4 million barrels per day (bpd), rejecting reports the country's output has fallen to around 2.7 million bpd, The New York Times reported.

According to the latest secondary source estimates published by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iran pumped just 2.72 bpd in September, and Iran's own data submitted to OPEC showed the country produced 3.75 million bpd in August.

Qasemi said Iran has been facing U.S. sanctions for 30 years while successfully managing its oil sector.

The minister said Iran was now consuming much more of its own oil thanks to a rapidly rising refining capacity.

He said Iran's refining capacity was now 2 million barrels per day (bpd) with another 200,000 bpd of capacity to be added before the end of Iranian year next March.

The increase in refining capacity had already ended Iran's need to import vehicle fuel and could soon drive a boom in fuel exports, the minister said.

The Executive Director of Iran International Exhibitions Mahmoud Haqverdi said on Monday that despite Western sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, its non-oil exports have been continuously increasing in recent years.

Haqverdi said surveys show that over the past five years Iran has had an average increase of over $10 billion of non-oil exports annually.

He said that the non-oil exports of Iran amount to some 50 billion euros annually.

Focusing on the sanctions and the current global trade status, Haqverdi noted that Iran's top priority is supporting the agricultural sector and the non-oil exports, and the conditions, too, dictate that greater support is needed for the country's producers and farmers.