Azernews.Az

Iran's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said the country has significantly developed its capacity to ship oil overseas despite illegal US-led sanctions.

"Today we are able to transport the oil even more than we could transport before the sanction imposed," Press TV quoted Qasemi as saying.

"We have no problem in this regard. We have other customers and, in fact, it's not possible to ignore us in the global market. If Europeans do not purchase our oil, we have also imposed sanctions on them. We have other customers today and more than 60 countries today, in fact, are purchasing our petrochemical and oil products and derivatives," he added.

" We have maintained our presence in the market," Qasemi said.

Qasemi noted that the country overhauled its oil industry by developing its shipping industry and expanding its oil market.

West's economic restrictions have failed to undermine the Iranian energy sector because domestic contractors overtook Western energy giants like Royal Dutch Shell and Total, he said.

The Western countries and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program, with the US and European Union using that claim as excuse to impose sanctions against Tehran.

Iran has categorically rejected the allegation, noting that as a committed member of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty it is entitled to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.