Hook: We will ensure there is no oil shortage before sanctioning Iran

Brian Hook, head of the Iran Action Group at the U.S. State Department, stated that the United States will ensure that there is no oil shortage in the market before the implementation of sanctions on Iranian oil on November 4. According to Reuters, he said at a press conference on Tuesday, September 25, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly: "We will ensure that there is an adequate supply in the oil market before the re-imposition of sanctions." U.S. sanctions target Iran's daily oil exports of two million barrels, while Saudi Arabia has announced it has an additional production capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day. Ahead of the implementation of Iran's sanctions in November, the U.S. Department of Energy also announced that it will sell 11 million barrels of oil from its strategic reserves. Meanwhile, U.S. oil production is expected to increase by 1.3 million barrels this year to reach 10.7 million barrels per day, and next year, it is projected to peak at 11.7 million barrels with a growth of one million barrels. The U.S. government, which has withdrawn from the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic and re-imposed heavy sanctions on Iran, is set to significantly limit Iran's oil exports from November 4. U.S. officials have consistently spoken of their intention to "reduce Iranian oil exports to zero," while Iranian officials have deemed this impossible. Several senior officials in Donald Trump's administration have indicated that the government expects Iranian oil imports to drop to zero within this less than two-month period. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called Washington's plan to sanction Iranian oil sales "impractical" and "dangerous" during a meeting with a group of American media executives on Monday. On the same day, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh stated that "America's dream of cutting Iran's oil exports will not come true," noting that while some countries have reduced their oil purchases from Iran, no country has completely stopped buying oil from Iran, with South Korea being the only country that has not purchased oil from Iran for three consecutive months. However, one day later, on Tuesday, September 25, Bloomberg reported that India's oil purchases from Iran will be "zero" in November. The news agency wrote that India, under U.S. pressure, will join Japan and South Korea and will not make any oil purchases from Iran in November. The remaining five countries in the JCPOA, namely France, Russia, China, and the UK, along with Germany, are trying to keep the path for Iranian oil exports and the presence of companies in the Iranian market open based on the JCPOA agreement. These countries gathered on Monday and issued a statement emphasizing their "commitment to pursuing specific actions" to facilitate payments and continue Iranian oil exports. However, as reported by the Russian news agency Sputnik, Brian Hook mentioned on Tuesday in New York that "all major companies have decided to exit Iran and make decisions based on business principles." According to him, the "economic reality" of the world compels these companies to choose the U.S. over Iran, and he emphasized that, in this regard, there should be no concern about the financial channels that European countries are trying to establish to continue trade with Iran.