An Iranian deputy oil minister says petrochemical sector and its products cannot be easily subjected to international sanctions due to vast expanse of the industry and world’s dire need to petrochemicals.

Addressing a conference at the University of Tehran on Tuesday, Mohammad Hassan Peivandi, deputy minister of petroleum and managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said thousands of businesses and jobs in the world depend on petrochemical industry and this is why sanctions cannot be effectively imposed on this sector.

“Today, sanctions that are imposed on crude oil” and its sales “cannot be imposed on petrochemical products,” he said.

The official added, “As we have witnessed, due to their dire need to petrochemical products, Western countries first lifted sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical sector” after an interim nuclear deal reached between Iran and P5+1 countries in the Swiss city of Geneva last November.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="555"] Mohammad Hassan Peivandi, managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), addressing a conference at the University of Tehran on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 ©SHANA[/caption]

Sanctions were imposed on Iran at the beginning of 2012 by the US and European Union (EU) claiming that there is a military aspect to Iran's peaceful nuclear program, an allegation Iran categorically rejected.

The Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – reached an interim agreement on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Geneva last November, which led to relative loosening of sanctions against Iran, paving the way for further cooperation in various economic fields between Iran and other countries.

The two sides also reached a mutual understanding on April 2 in the Swiss city of Lausanne, which is considered a prelude to the achievement of a comprehensive deal before a self-designated deadline at the end of June. A key point of Lausanne statement was a promise to lift a series of economic sanctions on Iran – including those on the country’s oil industry.

Peivandi said mass production of shale oil and gas in the US, high production of coal in China and polyethylene in Asia, and insecurity in the Middle East are among major challenges facing global petrochemical industry.

“These problems have been further exacerbated by sudden slump in global oil prices,” he added.

The official noted that at present more than 67 petrochemical projects with a total capacity of 61 million tons are underway across Iran, which have progressed between 5 and 97 percent.

He said when these projects come on-stream through an investment of USD 40 billion, Iran’s revenues will increase by more than USD 32 billion a year.

By Press TV