Speaking on Sunday at a ceremony marking the National Day of Industry and Mining, Iran's First Vice president Eshaq Jahangiri said: "We have opened up new windows of interaction within the country. The Israeli regime, and the Saudis, albeit for different reasons, have tried to disrupt this space. The US administration is also pursuing the same goal."
Referring to Iran's pivotal role in the region, Jahangiri said: "Regional security and calm is only maintained through the strength and power of the Islamic Republic."
Elsewhere in his remarks, Eshaq Jahangiri played down the impact of US sanctions against Iran, saying detailed plans had already been drawn up to counter US sanctions, and to make them ineffective.
Commenting further he said: "The main goal of the Trump administration was to prevent the sale of Iranian crude oil , natural gas, oil derivatives and petrochemical products -- a very tall order even for the Americans".
Jahangiri added: "Anyone who knows anything about international trade , and the energy market, realizes that the Americans have set themselves an impossible target. In an energy-hungry world, it is unrealistic to expect that countries won't buy Iranian crude oil. We are confident that "friendly nations" will continue to buy Iranian crude oil , as they are currently doing."
Jahangiri went on to refer to Iranian exporters, businessmen and industrialists as "front-line soldiers in an economic war" being waged against Iran, and he urged all Iranian exporters to make sure that their exports this year exceeds that of previous years.
The first vice president also mooted the idea of selling crude oil through the Tehran stock exchange, telling his audience: "Soon private sector businessmen will be able to buy crude oil through the Tehran stock exchange , and they will also be able to export this oil".
In further comments Jahangiri said there might be a dip in Iranian oil sales, but we are confident that friendly nations will continue to buy Iran's crude oil. He said plans had been drawn to retain our market share, as much as possible, in the oil market.
Iran will allow private companies to export crude oil to help beat U.S. sanctions, Iran's First Vice president added.
“Iranian crude will be offered on the bourse and the private sector can export it. Anyone trying to take away Iran’s oil market (share) would be committing great treachery against Iran and will one day pay for it”, Iran's First Vice president Eshaq Jahangiri concluded.
