Eni SpA continues Iranian imports

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TEHRAN, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- The chief executive officer of Italian energy company Eni SpA said his company will continue importing Iranian crude oil despite international sanctions.

Eni SpA CEO Paolo Scaroni said: "We signed two contracts in 2000 and 2001 to develop two fields in Iran ... The way that they have to pay us is to give us crude," Fars News Agency reported Wednesday.

Eni SpA is to receive $1 billion worth of crude from Iran.

Eni SpA's decision to continue its cooperation with Iran comes as the United States and its European allies attempt to implement U.S.-engineered anti-Iran sanctions after the U.N. Security Council ratified a sanctions resolution against Iran on June 9.

In the wake of the U.N. sanctions the United States and the European Union approved unilateral sanctions against Iran over its civilian nuclear program. The new U.S. and EU sanctions primarily targeted Iran's energy and banking sectors and included a U.S. boycott of gasoline supplies to Iran.