Iran in positive talks with sanctions-exempted states

Hemmati underlined that the US has failed in its policy to zero down Iran's crude exports, saying that Tehran is holding "serious and positive" talks with the 8 countries which have been exempted from oil embargos.

Elsewhere, he stressed Iran's efforts to decrease dependence on oil revenues, saying that the country's non-oil exports have stood at $27bln in the first 7 months of the current Iranian year (started on March 21).

"It has shown over 13% increase compared with the same period last year," Hemmati said.

Iranian officials have in many cases reassured that the vow to cut Iran's oil revenues to zero is a wild dream never to come true. Both the Iranian government and parliament have taken preparatory measures to minimize the negative effects to the lowest degree.

In relevant remarks last Saturday, Hemmati said that the US had failed in its efforts to cut Iran’s oil revenues to zero with sweeping sanctions, while the country was ready to combat even worse conditions.

He also underlined that it was no secret any more that the US had failed to carry out its earlier threats to push down Iran’s oil sales to zero under various pretexts.

 “The Central Bank of Iran has developed various plans to cope with the worst-case scenarios after the second round of the US sanctions is carried out. Meanwhile, we have managed to build up our foreign exchange reserves over the past months,” he said.

According to Hemmati, the Central Bank of Iran had been focused mainly on stabilizing foreign-exchange market over the past few weeks through promoting Iran’s national currency.

 “I’m sure that the great Iranian nation will leave behind successfully the current volatile situation. We are now developing new plans to restore balance to the market and prevent from further inflation,” he noted.

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