A man holds in his hand Euro banknotes at a petrol station on Sept. 25, 2018, in Lille, north of France. (AFP photo)
TEHRAN, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump "mistakenly" thought Saudi Arabia would be able to replace the lost share of Iran's crude supply to the global market, Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said Sunday.
Referring to the U.S. sanctions against Iran's oil and non-oil sectors, Jahangiri was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying the enemy's goal is to minimize the country's sources of income in the current economic war against Iran.
The reduced share of Iran in global oil market is the reason behind the recent surge in oil prices, the vice president noted.
"Trump thinks the Saudis can make up for Iran's (lost) oil share, but they cannot and now we see that oil prices have risen," Jahangiri said.
The enemy is seeking to cut Iran's oil exports to zero and prevent Iran's imports of basic commodities, including raw materials, he said.
In May, Trump pulled Washington out of the 2015 international deal on Tehran's nuclear program and vowed to restore sanctions on Iran's oil exports on Nov. 4.
Iran exported at least 2.5 million barrels per day of crude in April, before Trump withdrew the United States from the deal.
Recently, Iran announced that the Republic of Korea, one of the country's major crude customers, has stopped crude imports from Iran.
Last week, Iran's Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said Saudi Arabia would not be able to replace Iran's oil share in the global market.
The comments by Zanganeh came in response to the recent statements of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that his country and other producers had already raised their crude output to replace Iran's share of oil exports in the market.
"Such overstatements could only please Mr. (Donald) Trump," Zanganeh said, adding that "in reality, the market will never believe such claims."
Neither Saudi Arabia nor any other oil producer has such a capacity to replace Iran's oil in the market, he stressed.
