TEHRAN, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Saturday that his country is making rapid headway in oil, gas and petrochemical industries despite U.S. sanctions, Tasnim news agency reported.
The pace of progress in the petroleum, gas, refinement and petrochemical industries in Iran has quickened sharply, Zanganeh said at a ceremony held for signing a contract to develop the offshore Balal gas field, located in the Gulf near the giant South Pars gas field.
"From now on, every two weeks, we will have a new inauguration or the signing of a new contract, which shows that the (U.S.) sanctions failed to halt Iran's industrial progress and our pace of development of oil, gas, refining and petrochemical (industries) has accelerated," Zanganeh was quoted as saying.
In May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced withdrawal from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, and his administration re-imposed the sanctions on Iran's oil exports in last November, which had been lifted under the nuclear deal.
Iran has vowed to try all means available to bypass the U.S. sanctions and continue to export its oil and develop the energy sector.
