Russian companies were ready to supply fuel to Iran, despite unilateral U.S. and European Union sanctions targeting Tehran's oil and gas sectors, the Russian energy minister said Wednesday.
"Russian companies are prepared to deliver oil products to Iran. The possibility of delivering oil products to Iran exists, if there is a commercial interest," said Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko.
Russia already expressed its dissatisfaction with sanction measures, agreed last month by the U.S. and the EU, to punish Iran for its defiance in the nuclear standoff with Western countries.
These go beyond the new U.N. sanctions, agreed by Russia and other world powers, which mainly target military-related industries.
"Sanctions cannot hinder us," Shmatko said after a meeting in Moscow with Iranian Petroleum Minister Massoud Mir Kazemi, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Iran, which holds around 10 percent of the world's oil reserves, is the world's fourth-largest oil exporter and the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, after Saudi Arabia.
However, a lack of refining capacity and inefficiency problems means Iran needs to import vast volumes of gasoline from a variety of sources in order to satisfy domestic demand.
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