Iran's vice president has said on Sunday, October 28 that the United States will not be able "at all" to bring his country's oil exports to zero.
Speaking at a ceremony in Tehran, Es'haq Jahangiri claimed that as a result of "planning" and "mechanisms" deployed by President Hassan Rouhani's government, the U.S. will not reach its goal of completely cutting off Iran's oil exports. He did not explain what these mechanisms are.
The second round of U.S. sanctions reimposed by president Donald Trump in May kick in on November 4. The U.S. has been pulling diplomatic and economic strings to convince Iran's clients to stop importing buying its oil.
Washington has also asked Saudi Arabia to make sure there is enough oil supply on the world market to keep prices from rising further.
However, Jahangiri insisted that U.S. claims of Saudi oil replacing Iran's exports are a "lie" and said that oil has climbed from $30 to $80 a barrel and if the U.S. could stop all Iranian exports, the price would have reached $100.
The Iranian official also spoke about "European resistance" to U.S. and the help of "friendly countries", such as Russia and China.
Jahangiri added that it would be enough for Iran to sell one million barrels per day, claiming that in recent months the exports have been around 2.5 million b/d.
However, various oil industry sources have reported a substantial decline in Iran's exports, to as low as 1.3 million b/d.
The remark about reduced exports to be sufficient for Iran's financial needs may be based on Iran's hope for higher oil prices after November 4.
Iran's vice president also cast doubt on any further impact of U.S. efforts against his country's oil exports, saying that 'nothing new will happen" on November 4, as the U.S. has done whatever it could in recent months.
Jahangiri has also claimed that Iran's foreign currency reserves "look good" and top $100 billion. However, Iran's currency rial has dropped five fold against the U.S. dollar on the open market in recent months.