TEHRAN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran said on Thursday vowed to veto any decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its non-member allies seeking to harm Tehran's interests.
Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh was quoted by official IRNA news agency as saying that any anti-Iran move by the upcoming meeting of the Joint OPEC/Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) "would lack legality" since it has no authority to decide on OPEC's market supply.
The JMMC will hold a meeting in Algeria on Sept. 23, but the Iranian minister said that he would not attend the event.
Decisions are only binding when they are made by all OPEC member states, Zanganeh said, adding that he "will block any decision posing threats to Iran."
He indirectly criticized Saudi Arabia for vowing to compensate for the market demand after the United States imposes oil sanctions against Iran on Nov. 4.
Zanganeh said that the agreement reached in 2016 between OPEC member states and non-OPEC allied producers, mainly Russia, to cut crude output "is in tatters."
"The agreement doesn't really exist anymore. It's finished... Russia initially cut 300,000 barrels a day of production but then added it all back. ... There's no agreement left, really," he was quoted by the Press TV as saying.
