Iran won’t 'confirm nor deny' Russian oil-for-goods deal
The Iranian oil minister's refusal to confirm an alleged Russian oil-for-goods program has increased speculation about the controversial deal condemned by US officials.
Iran’s oil minister refused to answer questions about reports of a $20 billion oil-for-goods program with Russia.
“I will neither confirm nor deny this topic,” Bijan Zanganeh told reporters when asked at the funeral of former president Mohammad Khatami’s wife’s father. When asked if the deal exists at all, Zanganeh said, “We do not even have a bartering deal.”
![A Russian supertanker is anchored by Neka oil terminal, 300 km north-east of [Tehran], during an inauguration ceremony of the first phase of an oil swap project with Iran's Caspian neighbours, April 29, 2004. [ Under the project Iran will take crude from Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and transfer them through pipelines to refineries in the cities of Tehran and Tabriz.] - RTXMLA4](/sites/default/files/styles/article_header/public/almpics/2014/01/RTXMLA4.jpg/RTXMLA4.jpg?h=f7822858&itok=Ht0Xk3dl)
