President Hassan Rouhani and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh at the opening of Phase Two of the Persian Gulf Star Refinery, Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 28, 2018

President Hassan Rouhani insists that Iran will maintain its oil exports, despite tightening US sanctions that have cut official sales by almost 60%.

Rouhani said on State TV on Tuesday:

In future months, the Americans themselves will see that we will continue our oil exports.

America’s decision that Iran’s oil exports must reach zero is a wrong and mistaken decision, and we won’t let this decision be executed and operational.

Last week the Trump Administration, which imposed comprehensive sanctions in November, announced an end to sanctions waivers in May for Iran’s primary oil customers. These include China — which takes about half of Tehran’s exports — South Korea, Japan, India, and Turkey.

The Administration has also expanded its sanctions blacklist, including the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.

Rouhani did not explain how much of Iran’s current official exports of 1.1 million barrels per day — down from 2.5 million bpd in April 2018 — would be sustained. On Monday, he told workers, “The goal that the United States is seeking by stopping oil exports is to reduce our foreign currency incomes. To prevent this, we need to increase our non-oil exports.”

“US Will Certainly Fail”

The regime issued a series of declarations yesterday in response to the US pressure. Speaking at a meeting about free trade zones, 1st Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri echoed Rouhani:

[The Americans] seek to cripple the country’s economy and pile up social pressure through reducing the government’s sources of revenue … but thanks to plans made, this move will certainly fail…in view of the country’s unique potentialities.

Following the Supreme Leader’s lead, Jahangiri said Iran can export as much oil as it deems necessary.

Iran Daily, April 24: Supreme Leader — We Will Export As Much Oil As We Want

Jahangiri did not explain how this would be achieved, but analysts estimate that, in addition to its official exports, Tehran is shipping about 400,000 bpd “off the grid” by turning off tanker transponders.

Denouncing Europe

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani sniped at Europe as well as the US, following the failure to establish an economic link to bypass Washington’s sanctions:

We are trying to find out why European leaders and the European Union only support us in rhetoric or only [use words] to express regret at America’s actions.

He told the head of an Austrian delegation in Tehran, “This behavior has raised questions about the European Union’s credibility and it means that the EU lacks the weight to solve problems.”

In early February, the EU launched a limited Special Purpose Vehicle for non-dollar trade in Iranian oil and other commodities and goods. However, after an initial welcome, Iranian officials rejected the initiative because of “humiliating conditions”, such as the EU’s criticism of Tehran’s missile program and activities in the Middle East and Europe, including alleged assassination and bomb plots.

Iran Daily, March 5: Supreme Leader Closes Door on Links with “Vicious” Europe

Larijani said Iran did not need Europe’s help: “We will get even with America. They should know that they cannot keep doing this and pressure Iran and expect us to keep silent.”

The EU “should not demand anything from us anymore because it hasn’t done anything for us”, he added.