International energy agency: Iran oil exports hit 1-year high

Iran’s oil exports in January and February reached the highest level since 2013, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says.According to an IEA monthly report published on Friday, exports of Iranian crude, including condensate, reached 1.41 million barrels per day in January and February, Press TV reported.The IEA said the increase is mostly because of “sales of condensates to Asian buyers," adding, "Imports of Iranian oil surged in Japan and South Korea".According to the report, Turkey increased its imports from Iran last month and shipments to Syria also rose slightly.The increase followed an interim nuclear deal clinched between Iran and the six world powers "the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany" in Geneva on November 24 last year. The deal took effect on January 20.Under the deal, the six powers agreed to ease some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for Iran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities during a six-month period. It was also agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran within the same time frame.At the beginning of 2012, the US and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.