According to ISNA, on Wednesday, October 31, Bijan Zangeneh, Minister of Oil said in a press conference: “I deny the rumors brought up by Reuters and other news agencies” about selling oil to Russia.

Previously some media outlets had reported of an agreement between the Islamic Republic and Russia, according to which Iran can go around the U.S sanction on Iranian oil by selling oil to Russia through the Caspian Sea and receive goods and services in return.   

The Financial Times reported that “a high ranking” official in the United States government had claimed that Russia has been warned to “not even think about helping Iran to get around the oil sanctions.”

The second round of U.S sanctions are targeting Iranian oil and gas, and the American officials have said that they are aiming to bring down Iran’s oil export to zero.

At the same time, Reuters reported that Iran’s oil export to Asian countries has been reduced significantly. According to the report, during the last three years, this has been the lowest amount Iran has exported oil to China, Japan, and South Korea.

The three countries have collectively bought 1.13 million barrels of oil from Iran in the last month which has decreased 41 percent compared to the same month of last year.