Twitter Suspends Oil Minister’s Account

EghtesadOnline: Twitter has suspended Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh’s page on Monday, following the United States’ recent batch of sanctions targeting Iran’s petroleum industry.

News ID: ۷۵۱۵۰۹

17 November 2020

Zanganeh was hit by US sanctions imposed on Oct. 26 on a number of officials and entities affiliated with Iran’s Oil Ministry.

Washington has been imposing sanctions on Tehran since its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal two years ago.

The White House said at the time that it sought to reduce the Iranian oil exports to zero and started to gradually revoke waivers that would enable Iran to sell oil overseas.

Despite the restrictions, Iran managed to sell noticeable volumes of crude via anonymous routes.

Zanganeh had earlier said the US bans had no practical effect and stemmed from Washington’s grudge toward Tehran.

Reacting to the raft of sanctions targeting him and his colleagues at the Oil Ministry, he called the measures a “passive reaction” by the US to its own defeat in bringing down Iran’s oil exports to zero.

"Neither are we afraid of sanctions nor do they affect our work; they only strengthen our determination to serve our people," he emphasized.