Saudi Arabia unable to replace lost Iranian oil – Iran’s oil minister

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Monday dismissed as “nonsense” claims by the Saudi crown prince that Saudi Arabia can replace sanctions-hit Iranian oil in the market. Mohammed bin Salman’s remarks “can only satisfy” US President Donald Trump, Zanganeh was quoted as saying on his ministry’s website. “No one else will believe him. Iran’s oil cannot be replaced by Saudi Arabia,” the minister added. Prince Mohammed told Bloomberg on Friday the kingdom had met its promise to Washington to make up for Iranian oil supplies lost through US sanctions. Additional US sanctions, on Iran’s oil and banking industries, will be imposed in November. Zanganeh said such remarks had no “real impact on the market” but were part of a psychological war against Iran, Reuters reports. “Any country that makes such claims… just wants to display its support to the US sanctions against Iran,” Zanganeh said.