TEHRAN (Iran News)  Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani says Western sanctions cannot halt Iran’s oil exports, as the country is determined to protect its share of the global energy market.

“The country’s soil exports cannot be stopped. We will not compromise on Iran’s share in the world oil market,” Mohajerani wrote in a post from her verified X account on Saturday.

She said several ministries are spearheading a campaign to counter the sanctions, with the Oil Ministry taking center stage.

Mohajerani characterized new U.S. sanctions against Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad as evidence of Washington’s anxiety about Iran’s successful efforts to circumvent previous restrictions.

In announcing the new sanctions on Thursday, the Department of the U.S. Treasury said the bans were aimed at advancing President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran and cutting its oil exports down to zero.

The sanctions also targeted some Hong Kong-flagged oil tankers allegedly involved in the Iranian crude oil exports.

The post Iran says its oil exports cannot be stopped appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (Iran News) –A new report shows that Iran’s oil exports rose by half in 2023 despite sanctions imposed on Tehran by Washington.

The post Iran’s oil exports increased 50% last year despite US sanctions: Report appeared first on Iran News Daily.

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Iran has exported non-oil commodities valued at $1.7 billion to Turkey during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-June 21), the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) announced.

As reported, Turkey was the third top export destination of Iranian non-oil goods in the mentioned three-month period.

Exporting non-oil commodities worth $1.5 billion to the Islamic Republic, Turkey was also the third top source of Iran’s import in the first quarter of the present year.

Based on the data previously released by the Turkish Statistical Institute, the value of Iran’s exports to Turkey increased by 19 percent to reach $3.35 billion in 2022.

Turkey had imported over $2.82 billion worth of commodities from the Islamic Republic in 2021.

Based on the mentioned data, Iran’s imports from the country also marked an 11-percent rise to hit $3.07 billion in the past year, in comparison with 2021, when the figure was $2.77 billion.

According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the trade between the two countries has registered a 15-percent rise in 2022 compared to 2021.

The value of trade between the two neighbors reached $6.42 billion in 2022, while the figure stood at $5.59 billion in the preceding year.

Iran’s trade balance with Turkey has been $280 million positive in favor of Iran in the past year.

Meanwhile according to the reports, the trade exchanges between Iran and Turkey in the first five months of 2023 were about $2.2 billion, showing a 20 percent decline compared to the same period of last year.

According to the latest figures released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT), Iran’s trade with this neighboring country hit $2.190 billion from January to May 2023, registering a 20 percent slump compared to a year earlier.

The Institute put the value of trade exchanges between the two countries from January to May 2022 at $2.740 billion.

According to this report, Turkey’s export of products to Iran from January to May 2023 reached $1.152 billion, recording a four percent decrease compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Turkey had exported over $1.204 billion worth of products to the Islamic Republic from January to May 2022.

Turkey’s import of products from Iran registered a 32 percent decline and reached from $1.536 billion in January to May 2022 to $1.38 billion in the first five months of 2023.

The post Iran Nin-Oil Exports to Turkey Hit $1.7b in Q1 appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In remarks made on Tuesday, Khandouzi suggested that Iran has been paid regularly for oil exports since the current administration came to office in Tehran in August.

He said the government has also managed to access some of the funds that were used to be blocked in foreign bank accounts and were related to Iranian oil exports dating back to before 2018, when the US imposed its sanctions on Tehran.

The remarks come amid statements by senior government officials and media reports showing that Iran has increased its oil exports while being able to receive the revenues despite the US sanctions.

A Monday report by Reuters news agency showed Iranian oil supply to China in May had accounted for nearly 7% of the East Asian country’s total crude imports over that month which amounted to 10.8 million barrels per day.

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Tuesday that revenues derived from exports of crude, condensate, oil products, natural gas and petrochemical products had increased by 40% year on year in the three months to late June.

Owji on Thursday announced the receipt of $1.7 billion from Iraq for natural gas supplies delivered to the Arab country over the past years.

Government authorities say they expect other customers of Iranian energy, including South Korea, to settle their debts and avoid blaming American sanctions for their inability to pay.

Iran has more than $7 billion worth of funds in two South Korean banks for supplies of crude and condensate that took place before 2018.

Meanwhile Khandouzi defended the government’s decision to eliminate the preferential forex rate of 42,000 tomans per dollar and said this decision will help the national economy and will cut the hands of the smugglers and rant-seekers. He reiterated that people will benefit of this decision because the preferential forex rate jus helped few people to get fatter at the expense of the people’s poverty.

He added that the 13th government is determined to cut dependence of the public livelihood to the imports and oil and the economy should depend on the tax revenues.

Khandouzi went on to say that economic experiences of the country in the past decade should not be repeated in terms of dependence and fragility. He added that the former government was opposed to the tax on the capital earning but the current government supports it but it cannot implement it unless the government approves the law.

The post Iran Paid for Oil Exports 90 Days After Delivery appeared first on Iran News Daily.

In recent months, Iran’s oil exports have grown with the successive increases being recorded, which have been unprecedented in the last three years.

The increase is despite the harsh sanctions imposed on Iran by the White House.

Emphasizing the importance of repairing and renovating oil terminal facilities, Deputy Minister of Oil and the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company, Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr said: “If market conditions allow, the export capacity of crude oil from Kharg can be doubled.”

Khojasteh-Mehr visited Kharg island on Thursday and noted: “Kharg has been a symbol of the resistive economy in the country since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, and the island has been attacked by the enemies for the number of days of holy defense, but with diligent efforts and the will of the people and staff, even one day of oil exports has not been halted.”

The official added: “With transformation and dynamism in Kharg island and the Oil Terminals Company, no matter how much, we will have the same transformation and dynamism in the country’s economy.

“If we want to transform the country’s economy, we must take necessary steps in Kharg both in industry and social responsibilities and welfare of the people and inhabitants of this island,” he added.

The Deputy Minister of Oil has stated that the purpose of the visit is to closely review the latest status of projects related to the Oil Terminals Company, the Offshore Oil Company and the Kharg Island Oil Terminal, adding: “Major repairs mainly include repairs of docks, oil and gas condensate storage tanks located and safety and fire extinguishing systems in Kharg, which should be considered.”

The post Iran Can Double Oil Exports From Kharg Island appeared first on Iran News Daily.

Tehran is facing a race against time to reclaim its standing in the global energy market as producers plan to ramp up oil production through the end of 2022. President Ebrahim Raisi, who took office on Thursday, has said that he will seek to lift the “tyrannical sanctions imposed by America”.

Negotiations in Vienna to bring the U.S. back to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran have been suspended since mid-June. Iran’s traditional customers are watching the talks with interest and some companies are said to have held discussions to resume purchases.

Outgoing Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last month that some members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were concerned about how a return of Iranian barrels to the market would affect the prices.

Zanganeh said he told an OPEC+ meeting on July 18 that Iran would not hesitate to fully regain its market share once the sanctions were removed.

On Thursday, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Kazem Gharibabadi, reiterated the stance.

“Iran has always been an active and important founding member of the OPEC and we will continue our positive role in the Organization. However, we have always said that Iran will not accept any limitation on its oil production and export’ level when the situation is normalized,” he tweeted.

Iran has always been an active and important founding member of the OPEC and we will continue our positive role in the Organization. However, we have always said that Iran will not accept any limitation on its oil production and export’ level when the situation is normalized. 1

His remarks came in response to his Russian counterpart Mikhail Ulyanov’s tweet that hoped after the removal of the sanctions, “Iran will join efforts of OPEC+ to maintain the oil market stability”.

“This would be merely a national decision rather than a decision to be taken through joint efforts,” Gharibabadi responded.

In their meeting, OPEC and its Russia-led oil-producing allies agreed to unleash millions of barrels of bottled-up crude that would see oil output return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022. Under the deal, oil producers would ramp up production by 400,000 barrels per day every month.

Iran has been exempt of cuts to global supply agreed between OPEC and non-OPEC members in recent years in order to shore up prices.

Oil ministry officials have said a removal of the sanctions could bring back 3.8 million barrels per day of Iranian oil to the market over time. They are confident of the country’s ability to increase production quickly. One senior official said recently that most output could be restored within a month.

Energy groups say the global oil market is able to absorb the additional supply relatively quickly, given rising demand for fuel as global economic activity recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The post Iran Rejects Any Limit to Oil Exports appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid-Reza Hariri says if Iran cannot double its current export level in the upcoming years, the country will face with foreign currency crisis.

Speaking to ILNA, Hariri said that currently the condition is in a way that the government can do nothing for two reasons, adding that the first reason is that sanctions have led to the slump in Iran’s oil revenues and the second reason is the coronavirus pandemic. He noted that the virus pandemic has affected non-oil exports comparing to the previous years, reiterating that even if the no-oil exports had not faced with slump, the country would still have faced with shortage of the forex.

Hariri noted that in those years that the country had good forex revenues, it used to sell oil worth $120b annually and it had non-oil export worth $30b which made the total revenues some $15b but in recent years and due to sanctions and the slump in the oil price, Iran’s oil revenues have considerably dropped.

On the probable forex revenues of the country this year, Hariri said that it is expected optimistically the country’s oil revenue to be around $5 and the statistics for the first half of the year show that the country’s non-oil exports would be around $30b while the figure was $40b last year.

Hariri added that so this year and at the best, the country would have forex revenues between 35b to $40b while the country in its most economized condition needs $50b.

He urged the country to continue the resilient and economized policies until the end of the year because country’s revenues and expenditures do not match.

He reiterated that if the country does not increase its exports and does not double it, it would face forex crisis.

Hariri noted that due to sanctions, the government is unable to do anything, adding that if the country puts behind this year with this condition, the next year the condition will be tougher.

The post Iran Needs to Double Its Exports to Meet Its Forex Demands appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said that today, non-oil exports are responsible for providing the currency needed by the country.

Rouhani stated on Wednesday that Iran is facing bigger problems in oil exports, and the problem should be compensated by exporting other goods.

The President said: “The Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade is at the forefront of the fight against sanctions, and it is responsible for supplying basic and essential goods.”

He thanked the parliament for the vote of confidence to the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade and said: “In the field of production, our movement should be better than in previous years. Despite the coronavirus spread, statistics in the first four or five months of the current Iranian year show that we are witnessing a growth in production compared to last year.”

“People should know that despite the hardships and pressure of sanctions, the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors have grown,” he noted.

“In previous years, we were under sanctions, not economic war,” Rouhani said.

“In the past, the government exported at least one million barrels of oil a day at a price of $ 120. In 2013, when oil prices fell, it was $ 104 a barrel. Our banks were not in the situation today and they had better conditions.” the president highlighted.

The president stressed: “In the 11th government, the situation was better and we were removed from the FATF blacklist, and unfortunately, problems arose for us because of the four bills.”

“The provision of basic and essential goods is very important for us, and thank God, in the difficult conditions that coronavirus has created for us, our efforts to provide the health and medical goods needed by the people were right.”

“We must explain the facts to the people as they are. Sanctions have been in place for years, but the economic war has been going on since 2018. Let us not make mistakes and distort the address and date, and instead tell the facts to the people, which of course does not mean that we are scared and retreated in the face of enemy conspiracies.”

“It is true that the government’s view is that we must interact with the world, we will repeat it a thousand more times. We said ‘constructive interaction’, and the Supreme Leader corrected it and said ‘extensive constructive interaction’, so we should have extensive constructive interaction with the world.”

“We should talk about the problems, but also explain to the people what has been done and let the people know the facts of our situation. If someone says that all the problems are on the shoulders of the executive management and the government, it is wrong. We all have a heavy burden today. This heavy burden must be borne by the three branches, the armed forces and our dear people until we reach our destination.”

He also urged Iranians abroad to invest in the country and to develop.

Rouhani has pointed to the first debate of U.S. Presidential candidates, noting that ‘Americans are enmeshed in a very tough situation’.

Speaking in a Wednesday’s cabinet session, Rouhani pointed to the history of US measures against Iran, saying, “Americans are seeking to devise new plots every day.”

“Americans have been enmeshed in a very tough situation. If you have listened to last night’s debate or have followed up the issue on media, you have seen what a tough situation they have.”

“On the one hand, they had the worst management of the coronavirus and on the other, unemployment has increased. On the one hand, domestic unrest had exacerbated and on the other, they have had no achievement in their foreign policy.”

Rouhani noted that the Trump administration’s policies have not only failed against Iran but also against Europe and the Asia Pacific.

“It is normal for a country that has a lot of problems inside to divert these to the outside world.”

Elsewhere, he said that despite the U.S. unilateral sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, Iran is seeing an increase of production in industrial sectors. Rouhani said that the output in steel, auto, and petrochemical industries have grown in the past five months as compared to the same period last year.

The post Country Has Been in Economic War Since 2018 appeared first on Iran News Daily.

The post Iranian Oil Exports Jump in September appeared first on Iran News Daily.

IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK

TEHRAN – Head of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri says the project for developing non-oil exports to China is one of the priorities of the private sector and it is better in the first phase of launching Iran-China Trade Office in Shanghai, China, it should be taken into consideration.

Speaking in the meeting with representatives of big state-run companies,   Hariri said according to the plans, the trade office is to be launched by the end of 2020. He said state-run companies are to cooperate with Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce for launching the trade office in Shanghai.

He delved into details of launching trade office in Shanghai, saying that the trade offices are aimed at accelerating economic cooperation between the two countries and launching the Iran-China Trade Office is not an exception. He added that preparations have begun for setting up the trade office in China and now it is good time for launching such an office.

Hariri added that since the pandemic has led to restrictions for travels among countries, it is good time for preparing the grounds for cooperation for the time when the restrictions are lifted.

He admitted that it is the first experience for the country for launching such a trade office, adding that between 2009 and 2013, Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce had offices in Shanghai but due problems and the U.S. sanctions their activities were suspended.

Hariri admitted that during the nuclear talks and signing the JCPOA, the issue of reopening the trade office in China was forgotten and was put on hold.

He reiterated that the U.S. reimposition of sanctions and pulling out of the JCPOA made the government work on this issue in the past year and Iran’s Chamber of Commerce was assigned to relaunch trade offices abroad.

He added that since Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce has experience of years of activities, China is the first place that Iran can practically start its trade activities.

Hariri reiterated that of course Iranians have purchased a trade office in Syria but it is totally different with trade offices in Iraq, Afghanistan and China, and each has its own characteristics and each can work in a certain field.

On choosing Shanghai as the first venue for the trade office, he said Iran has had trade office in Shanghai and it can use the same place for the office, adding that Shanghai is one of the major commercial cities of China, noting that although Beijing is the political capital of the country, the heart of its trade is Shanghai and Iran should take advantage of this opportunity.

Hariri said that Iranians should take advantage of China’s market because China is one of the biggest consuming countries in the world and it is one of the biggest importers. He reiterated that China’s 1.4b population is incomparable with the markets of Iraq and Afghanistan.

On the Iran-China 25-Year Strategic Accord and its impact on the trend of cooperation of private sector, he said the accord is more a media hype but what is seen as the strategic cooperation between Iran and China is to prioritize expansion of trade relations, and the colorful role of the private sector should be highlighted.

Hariri noted that the first phase of Iran-China trade office will open in Shanghai to serve Iranian companies for exports to China’s market. He further said imports of machinery and needed items are of the primary goals of the office.

He added that in the second phase, attraction of Chinese companies and serving Chinese companies through Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce will be on the cards.

The post Iran-China Trade Office to Focus on Non-Oil Exports appeared first on Iran News Daily.