Iran brags of major oil industry deal

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TEHRAN, May 2 (UPI) -- A $2.1 billion deal with a Spanish company for the manufacturing of equipment for the Iranian oil and gas industry shows sanctions don't work, Iran claimed.

The Society of Iranian Petroleum Industries Equipment Manufacturers signed the contract with an unidentified Spanish company. Member Kayhandokht Kavianpour told the semiofficial Mehr News Agency that the deal meant sanctions couldn't get in the way of developing the domestic energy sector.

"Certain Western countries imagine that with sanctions, the engine of the development of Iran's oil industry will stop functioning," he said.

The industry expects it could produce as much as $20 billion worth of equipment domestically for the oil sector during the Iranian year, which began March 20.

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said sanctions targeting "Iran's oil sector have failed and will not block the progress and development of the industry."

Some governments have targeted Iran's energy sector to cut off a source of funding for a nuclear program. Iran is believed to be working on technology needed to produce a nuclear weapon, though Tehran denies the allegation.