Iran president urges cooperation among gas exporters to fight US hegemony, sanctions

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi has called for further cooperation among gas exporting countries to circumvent US sanctions imposed on some members.

He made the remarks in an address to the sixth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Qatari capital city of Doha on Tuesday.

“The international community must prevent and not recognize any unilateral and coercive measure, such as cruel US sanctions against the oil and gas industries of the forum’s member states,” Raeisi said.

“With awakened and free nations in today’s world, the use of sanctions to impose the hegemonic will and demands of a country on independent states has no effect and function. Nevertheless, it endangers the economic interests of GECF member states.”

The Iranian chief executive also noted that an interactive environment between the gas exporting countries can ensure the individual interests of each member state in the form of a collective strategy based on joint cooperation.

As one of the countries with the largest natural gas reserves in the world, Iran has a very high capacity for the production, transmission, and export of natural gas and greater participation in ensuring the security of the global energy supply, he added.

“Despite the cruel, unilateral, and illegal US sanctions, the Islamic Republic has been able to increase its natural gas production and implement large and valuable projects in the oil and gas sectors by relying on the capabilities of its dedicated experts and using domestic companies and localized technical knowledge.”