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"These sanctions are an example of America's
bullying reaction in trying to change the balance of power in
the world," Amir Hossein Zamaninia, a deputy oil minister, said
in a report carried by the oil ministry's news website SHANA.
Oil prices hit their highest level since November last week
after Washington announced all waivers on imports of
sanctions-hit Iranian oil would end this week, pressuring
importers to stop buying from Tehran and further tightening
global supply.
The United States demanded last Monday that buyers of Iranian
oil stop purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months
of waivers which allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers, most of
them in Asia, to continue importing limited volumes.
The White House said after its Iran move it was working with
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to ensure oil markets
were “adequately supplied” but traders worried about tight
supplies.
Other countries can not fill Iran's place in the oil market,
Zamaninia said, according to SHANA.
"This idea that some countries can fill the empty place of
Iran's oil in the market is incorrect from different aspects,
including a technical and political view," Zamaninia said.
Separately, Zamaninia said the Gulf can only remain an
international route for transferring oil if all countries are
able to use it.
The commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ navy said last week
that Iran would close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if Tehran
is barred from using it.
(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; editing by Dale Hudson and
Jason Neely)
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