US oil companies face no ban by Iran

Iran’s oil minister says there is no ban on American companies working in Iran’s oil industry.

The semi-official ILNA news agency on Tuesday is quoting Bijan Zanganeh as saying: "American companies face no ban for entering our oil industry.”

However, Zanganeh said American companies "have not directly applied” to work in Iran’s oil industry, so far.

This is the first such remark by Iran after an executive order by U.S. president Donald Trump on Friday banned immigration and visa processing for Iranians alongside six other Muslim countries.

In January, Iran’s Oil Ministry published a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for oil and gas projects following the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear accord that went into effect last year.