US Unable to Reduce Iranian Oil Export to Zero - Rouhani

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The United States is unable to cut Iranian oil exports down to zero, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday.

"The officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran were saying from the first day that Americans are not able to reduce Iran’s oil export to zero, but they kept repeating that they would do this and they recently admitted that the cannot reduce Iran’s oil export to zero," Rouhani said, as quoted on his official website.

He went on to say that the new package of Iran sanctions had not influenced the country's economy as the United States had already used all the "bullets" that they had, and now had "nothing new to offer."

While the first round of the Iran sanctions was reimposed in August, the second package, including restrictions targeting the country's oil industry, came into force on November 5.

READ MORE: US is Unable to Balance Global Oil Market, It's 'Beyond Their Control' — Prof

The United States seeks to force all the importers of Iranian oil to eventually reduce their imports to zero.

However, China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey have received temporary exemptions from the sanctions on importing oil from Iran.

According to the US State Department, the exemptions will remain in force for 180 days with no planned extensions.

In May, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and reimpose sanctions against Tehran that were previously lifted under the accord, including secondary restrictions.