Iran calls for support from non-OPEC members to stabilize oil market

Iranian leaders have urged oil producing countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to back the resolve of the oil cartel to stabilize the oil market and boost crude prices.

According to local media reports, Iran's Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh said that he expects the non-OPEC producers to cooperate with OPEC to boost market stability, reports Xinhua.

Commenting on the meetings between Russian and Saudi energy officials, Zanganeh said that "we hope the two sides will reach agreements and the non-OPEC states and Russia will accompany members of the organization."

Asked if Russia will attend a meeting of the OPEC member states on November 30 in Vienna, Zanganeh said that "the regular session of OPEC will be attended by the oil and energy ministers of the organization in the permanent secretariat of the organization. Russia will not take part in the meeting."

On Saturday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei alleged that the decrease in global oil prices is leverage to exert pressure on independent countries by the United States.

He also urged "resistance and steadfastness along with prudence" to foil U.S. plots.

On September 28, OPEC members agreed during an impromptu meeting in Algeria to cut crude oil production by 750,000 barrels a day to raise crude oil prices.

OPEC nations reached a preliminary agreement for the first time since the global financial crisis eight years ago, in an effort to reduce a global glut of crude that has depressed oil prices for more than two years and weakened the economies of oil-producing nations.