Managing Director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor stated that Iran is going to raise oil production.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)�� Iran's crude oil export exceeds 2.44 million barrels a day, while the output has neared 4 million barrels a day, Managing Director of�National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Ali Kardor said on�Monday.

"Working in�oil industry is like�operating at�war fronts and we have to�preserve our trenches by�raising our production capacity as�much as�we can� The next OPEC [the Organization of�the Petroleum Exporting Countries] meeting is near�and we will never cease to�recapture our quota in�the organization," Kardor said, as�quoted by�the Shana news agency. On October 28-29, a Meeting of�the High-level Committee of�the Algiers Accord of�OPEC took place in�Vienna. The next OPEC technical meeting is expected to�take place on�November 25-26.

The international community once feared that Tehran was hiding a weapons program under�the guise of�peaceful nuclear energy development. Anti-Iran sanctions imposed by�the United Nations banned the sale of�Iranian oil to�the European Union and some parts of�Asia.

In July 2015, Iran signed an historic nuclear deal with�the P5+1 group of�mediators, comprising Russia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Under the agreement, among�other points, Tehran was obliged to�cut back its uranium enrichment and decrease the number of�centrifuges in�the country. In exchange, the West was obliged to�gradually lift sanctions imposed on�the Islamic republic, enabling the resumption of�exports and frozen energy projects. In 2011, before�the sanctions were introduced, Iran exported over�2.6 million barrels per day, and used to�produce some 4.3 billion barrels a day. In February, Iran pledged to�restore its oil production to�the levels seen before�the international sanctions were imposed in�a couple of�years.

By Sputnik