SHANA -- An Iranian deputy petroleum minister said the policies adopted by Iran and its Petroleum Ministry forced Washington to issue exemptions to 8 of Iran�s oil buyers.

Addressing an investment conference in Tehran on Monday, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy petroleum minister for international affairs and trading, elaborated on the latest state of an Iran-Europe banking channel.

He said the sanction reprieves to eight countries to continue buying Iranian oil was not a US decision, �but Iran's policies and the Petroleum Ministry's strategies imposed that decision on them.�

The official said maintaining a strategic balance between Iran and Europe �requires that Europe takes action.�

He called on Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, as well as Japan, India and Brazil, as major countries associated with Iran, to play their part regarding the US sanctions and new international ties that were being formed.

Mr. Zamaninia stated that the influence of the United States in the world had been challenged by Mr. Trump's election as US President, saying that the conduct of the President of the United States was not consistent with international protocols, which had led to the decline of American power in the world. �Europeans say, �are we war captives that the United States treats us like this?��

Creation of banking channel between Iran and Europe

Zamaninia further underlined the creation of a joint banking channel between Iran and Europe, adding that the channel was to be set up by a number of small European banks with little ties with the US and several Iranian banks for importing unsanctioned items and, by mid-2019, when the network had expanded enough, �we will be able to purchase items that are subject to sanctions.�

He states that the Europeans were trying to stay in the Iran Nuclear Deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action--JCPOA). �Countries like China, Russia, Japan, India and Brazil are waiting for the banking channel to be set up between Iran and Europe as fast as possible.�