Speaking to reporters following a meeting with his predecessors, the official said on Sunday that oil tankers and export of oil is one of the issues in which “we have limitations and the US and its allies have caused restrictions for us and we have to be sensitive.”

He said his predecessors confirmed his policies regarding Iran’s oil exports and stressed their continuation.

Earlier this month, Britain’s naval forces unlawfully seized Iranian-owned oil tanker Grace 1 and its cargo of 2.1 million barrels of oil in the Strait of Gibraltar, under the pretext that the supertanker had been suspected of carrying crude to Syria in violation of the European Union’s unilateral sanctions against the Arab country.

Reports, however, said the confiscation took place at the request of the US, Presstv reported.

Tehran has condemned the seizure as “maritime piracy,” warning that it would not go unanswered. It has also rejected London’s claim that the ship had been bound for Syria.

Zangeneh further stressed that no country could replace Iran’s oil in the market.