Iran press/Irannews: Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, told Reuters on Friday that a supply shortage showed that Washington would not be able to meet its' zero exports targetagainst Iran because there is no spare capacity anywhere.
US President Donald Trump is seeking to cut Iran's oil exports completely by November 4 as it re-imposes sanctions on the country.
An expected loss of Iranian oil, declining supply from another OPEC member, Venezuela, and other outages are boosting crude prices, which this week hit $80 a barrel, the highest since May.
US will fail to achieve zero oil exports target: Hossein Kazempour Ardebili
US President Donald Trump officially declared America's withdrawal from the JCPOA on 8 May 2018, and decided to re-impose unilateral sanctions against Tehran.
He said the US policy is to levy “maximum economic pressure” on the country.
Trump also restated his opinion that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a “horrible, one-sided deal”.
It was despite the fact that IAEA verified Iran's commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In Sep. 10, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said that Iran is implementing its' nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Also in Jul. 05, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano stressed that Iran is living up to its commitments made under the 2015 international nuclear deal.
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Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned that the deal could fall apart and hinted that Iran could restart its nuclear efforts if the US were to re-enact sanctions, though the European signatories of the accord have pledged to honor it.
Speaking last July to diplomats in Tehran, Rouhani said that the United States "must understand that war with Iran is the mother of all wars and peace with Iran is the mother of all peace.
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Rouhani: Trump’s withdrawal from JCPOA was “America’s worst and last option”
Under the deal, Iran undertook to put limits on its' nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions.
The sanctions cover Iran’s purchases of dollars, its' trade in gold and precious metals, and its' automotive sector.
Further sanctions on oil and transactions with the central bank of Iran will come into effect on November 4.
Under the US pressure to lower oil prices, the OPEC and its allies agreed in June to boost production, having participated in a supply-cutting deal in place since 2017.
Despite an increase in OPEC production since then, Saudi Arabia has added less crude than it initially announced.
The Iranian OPEC governor has voiced skepticism that other producers can add much more oil.
Back in August, Kazempour Ardebili said the US president has apparently been duped by Saudi Arabia into believing that the kingdom can replace Iranian barrels cut from the market.
"It seems President Trump has been taken hostage by Saudi Arabia and a few producers when they claimed they can replace 2.5 million barrels per day of Iranian exports, encouraging him to take action against Iran," he added.
The White House has announced that Saudi Arabia’s King Salman had promised Trump to raise oil production and that the kingdom had two million barrels per day of spare capacity to boost output to offset a decline in supply from Iran.
Tehran has said it would make a decision on its' future role in the nuclear agreement in the coming weeks following negotiations with the other signatories to the deal.
EU powers have scrambled to save the JCPOA and protect their businesses in Iran, after re-imposition of US sanctions.
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