US can't do much against our oil sales: Iranian minister on sanctions

The United States cannot do much more to target Iranian oil exports, Iran's oil minister said on Tuesday, speaking before new U.S. sanctions kick in on November 4.

"America has done most of the things it could do, and there is not much left to do against Iran," Bijan Zanganeh was quoted as saying by the semi-official ISNA news agency.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran in May and announced sanctions against the OPEC state.

Washington is pushing allies to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero. It is also encouraging Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members and Russia to pump more crude to meet any shortfall.

But Washington said this month it would consider waivers for Iranian oil buyers such as India, although it said they would eventually have to halt imports from the third biggest oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, most international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in 2016 in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear programme.