Tehran, YJC. Qasemi has said that world powers are pressuring Iran because they do not like a rich independent country.
The
Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said in his speech before the Friday prayers of Tehran
that Iran is a country rich in hydrocarbon reserves which are likely to outlive
other countries’, adding "Things being so, arrogant countries would not like
that to happen, to see a country with such huge oil and gas reserves independent
of the whole world.”
Qasemi
pointed out that in the past two years sanctions have heightened so much as to
cripple production and export in the oil section. He said "Some parts of Iran’s
oil industry are dependent on European and US companies and countries, a fact
which made the job much harder.”
"These
countries created corps inside their embassies to prevent Iran from exporting
oil products and equipment, so our exports suffered greatly,” he added.
Qasemi
asserted that Iran has not been exposed to such harsh sanctions even during the
Iran-Iraq war.
He said
that one of the most inimical acts against the country’s oil industry was to
threaten the CEO of an international company with a 20-year imprisonment term
if the company was to carry out its contract at the 12th phase of
the South Pars.