Dep. FM:

Iran still selling oil despite being under sanctions

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi says the Iranian economy is not linked to the negotiations, adding that Tehran is able to sell its oil under sanctions.

News ID: ۲۰۰۱۶۷۹

04 August 2025

Speaking on Monday, Gharibabadi said that Iran has outlined conditions for starting negotiations with the United States, including the lifting of sanctions, stating that "We should not link the lifting of sanctions to negotiations with the US. If the US does not come to the negotiating table, or if the negotiations are held, these sanctions are not lifted, that is not all. No, We must strengthen our economic foundations."

He continued to say that "It is true that we live in a world where economic infrastructure and economic and trade activities are interconnected, and countries must interact with each other, but there is a lot of potential, especially with neighbors and beyond neighbors."

Deputy foreign minister added that, "We are currently under sanctions, but we are still carrying out our economic and commercial activities and selling our oil. They wanted to bring our oil sales to zero, but they could not. Because there are different ways and potential. We should not tie all the country's fate to negotiations."

"We shouldn't tie everything to negotiations," Gharibabadi further asserted.

He noted, "If we could get the sanctions lifted through negotiations, that would be great, and it's not a bad move, and we should do it. But if they want to abuse the negotiation table, naturally, we shouldn't tie everything to negotiations."/mehr