Iran will block others' oil sales if its own is sanctioned, top trade official warns

Iran would respond to snapback-triggered sanctions on its oil sales by preventing other countries from selling their oil, warned Yahya Al-e Eshaq, head of the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce and a conservative political figure.

“If we’re unable to sell our oil, we won’t allow others to sell theirs,” he said in an interview published on Friday.

Al-e Eshaq said authorities had long anticipated the reimposition of UN sanctions and had planned accordingly. “This didn’t happen overnight. There’s a strategic and calculated response in place,” he said, adding that relevant bodies such as the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) would ultimately decide how to respond.