Russian Expert: Sanctions Cannot Stop Iran's Progress

Moscow, Aug 5, IRNA – Russian analyst in the Middle East Affairs Simon Bagdasarova said sanctions would not have any effect on Iranians' determination for progress and the west efforts in this regard are in vain. In an interview with Russian Newspaper 'Kommersant' on Saturday, Bagdasarova said that Iran has alternatives to confront oil sanctions and stressed that Tehran can find new buyers for its oil to neutralize west limitations for its oil sale. He added that Iran can find new buyers for its oil among African states, or increase its oil export to China and India which are main oil buyers from Iran. The Russian analyst pointed out that US efforts to force China and India to cut or reduce their oil import from Iran have been useless so far. Bagdasarova said that Iran has started to sell oil to a number of countries close to the Persian Gulf and is able to export its oil by small oil vessels to these destinations./end