TEHRAN, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Morteza Shahmirzaei said on Saturday Iran sends its oil tankers to other countries right before the U.S. warships' eyes.
Shahmirzaei, who is also the CEO of Iran's National Petrochemical Company, made the remarks when talking about the impacts of the U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil exports, according to the Shana News Agency affiliated with the Iranian Oil Ministry.
"Our oil sales have doubled (despite the sanctions) and we do not ask for anybody's permission and pass our oil tankers before the U.S. warships' eyes and process our oil in extraterritorial refineries in Venezuela and other continents."
In remarks at the same ceremony that marks the Iran-Iraq war during 1980-1988, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji said the country's exports of oil and gas condensates are increasing on a daily basis despite the sanctions.
The United States reimposed its sanctions on Iran in May 2018 following its withdrawal from a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed between Tehran and world powers in July 2015.
The sanctions have mainly targeted Iran's oil sectors and banks.
To bypass the sanctions on its oil sector, Iran has been pursuing a new strategy since two years ago, which involves revamping refineries in other countries that do not operate at full capacity and then sending its oil to those plants to be refined, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Iran in 2022 became a shareholder in two Venezuelan refineries of El Palito and Paraguana with a total refining capacity of 141,000 barrels of oil per day.
The same strategy has been pursued in Nicaragua, Syria and Uzbekistan, according to Tasnim. ■
