Iran said Wednesday that it will continue to defy American sanctions by finding buyers for its oil and use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of the commodity, warning the US that it should "be prepared for the consequences" if it tried to stop Tehran.
US President Donald Trump on Monday decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran's top export commodity. The US' move which is seen as an escalation of its "maximum pressure" on Iran came after it last year gave 180-days waiver to eight countries, including India, China and Japan among others.
"We believe that Iran will continue to sell its oil, we will continue to find buyers for our oil and we will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as a safe transit passage for the sale of our oil. That is our intention and that is what we believe will happen," Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Javad Zarif said at an event at the Asia Society here.
Zarif warned that if the US takes the "crazy measure" of trying to prevent Iran from continuing to sell its oil "then it should be prepared for the consequences."