Iran and Saudi Arabia are exaggerating their oil reserves, Iranian Oil Minister Begin Zanganeh said on Friday.
Zanganeh said in a statement that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are prepared to compensate the oil market with the necessary supply after Washington's decision to prevent renewing exemptions for the countries importing Iranian oil, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Zanganeh said the US embargo on Iranian oil was not political, but rather hostile acts against Iran.
"American oil behavior and sanctions are not a political trick, but a strong hostility towards the Iranian people," he said.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced that it was in contact with international institutions and international partners concerned with the suspension of exemptions from US sanctions, stressing that it did not give any consideration to granting or lifting such exemptions, according to IRNA.
On April 22, the United States decided not to renew exemptions on the import of Iranian oil by May 2.
The White House said in a statement at the time that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and other allies of Washington will be able to fill the vacuum caused by the cessation of Iranian oil exports.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed at the time that his country would continue to put pressure on Iran to stop its destabilizing behavior in the region and its support for terrorism.
On November 5, Washington launched a package of sanctions that included Iran's oil industry and foreign payments, which affected crude production and exports.
Washington granted temporary exemptions to Turkey, China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, but decided to withdraw from May 2.
Turkey
In Turkey, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Aksoi said his country was trying to persuade the United States to allow Toprash Refinery, the country's largest oil importer, to continue buying crude oil from Iran without sanctions.
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mouloud Gawishoglu said that the US proposal to buy oil from any country other than Iran is beyond the border, indicating that Turkey opposes such steps and dictates.
According to OPEC data, Iranian oil production fell to 2.69 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, compared to 2.72 million bpd in the previous month.
Iran's oil production from global demand for crude, according to data released last March by OPEC, is about 2.7%, compared to 3.8% in May 2018.
The average daily global demand for crude oil, about 99.8 million barrels per day, amid expectations of OPEC to reach 100 million barrels per day by the second half of 2019.