Tehran has no plans to leave Opec: Iranian oil minister

Published June 8, 2019
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh arrives for an Opec meeting in Vienna, Austria. —Reuters/File
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh arrives for an Opec meeting in Vienna, Austria. —Reuters/File

Iran has no plans to leave the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said in an interview published by the Iranian parliament news site ICANA on Saturday.

"Iran has no plans to leave OPEC...and regrets that some members of Opec have turned this organisation into a political forum for confronting two founding members of Opec, meaning Iran and Venezuela," Zanganeh told ICANA.

"And two regional countries are showing enmity towards us in this organisation. We are not their enemy but they are showing enmity towards us...and [they] use oil as a weapon against us in the global market and world.” Zanganeh did not name the two countries.

Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have spiked this year after the two said they would increase oil production to make up for Iranian crude cut from the market by the United States sanctions.

On Friday, US President Donald Trump's administration added Iran's largest petrochemical holding group to its sanctions list, accusing it of indirectly supporting Tehran's Revolutionary Guards.

Washington said the move aimed to dry up revenues to the elite Iranian military force but analysts called it largely symbolic.

The Trump administration is seeking to intensify economic and military pressure against Iran because of its nuclear and missile programmes as well as its support for proxy groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen.

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...
Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...