National Iranian Oil Company’s international affairs director, Hojjatollah Ghanimi Fard, told the official Fars News Agency no crude exports were now being priced in US dollars.

“All of Iran's oil trading is being done with euro and yen,” Ghanimi Fard said. “We agreed with all the buyers of Iran's crude to trade oil in currencies other than [the] dollar. In Europe, Iran's crude is being sold in euro, in Asia in euro and yen."

Iran’s Oil Ministry claims to have earned $70bn from oil exports in the year to the end of March.

Earlier this year, Fard said he would target foreign investment in Tehran’s energy sector by creating an umbrella group of nearly 50 state-run firms and listing its shares on four international stock exchanges including Dubai (MEED 8:2:08).

Under Tehran's privatisation plan, at least 47 oil and gas companies worth an estimated $90bn are to be privatised on the Tehran Stock Exchange by 2014.