Azernews.Az

American and European countries have formed some "Anti-anti-sanctions" think tanks at the embassies of the countries that buy oil from Iran, Islamic Republic's oil minister said on Wednesday.

"Iran has also formed a special workgroup to counter the move," the Fars News Agency quoted Rostam Qasemi as saying.

The oil minister also said that his priority during the past years was to find new oil buyers so that the country's revenues don't fall.

"Iran's long-time oil buyers have also failed to replace Iran with a new source," he said.

Press TV reported on June 21 that Iran's crude oil exports to its top customer, China, have seen nearly a 50-percent increase in May from April on a daily basis.

Iran sold 2.36 million tons of crude to China in May, equivalent to about 555,557 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

The increase in China's imports of Iranian crude came just before the United States renewed the country's waiver on U.S. sanctions aimed at Iran's oil revenues.

The figures show a 49.5 percent rise from the 371,500 bpd of Iranian crude that China imported in April. The May level rose 6.4 percent from 521,936 bpd a year earlier.

On June 13, a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Iran's crude output had risen by 30,000 barrels a day in May to 2.68 million barrels a day.