Iran 'not concerned' about EU ban on its oil

(TEHRAN) - Iran is "not concerned" about EU moves to ban Iranian oil imports and will survive them as it has other Western measures, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Thursday.

"Iran has always been ready to counter such hostile actions and we are not concerned at all about the sanctions," Salehi said in a televised joint news conference with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

"We have taken provisional measures. We have weathered the storm for the past 32 years and we will be able to survive this as well," Salehi said.

Diplomats in Brussels said on Wednesday that the 27-nation EU bloc has reached an "agreement in principle" to ban Iranian oil imports and was discussing the timing of when the measure would begin.

The ban would add to other sanctions already imposed by the West, including a US measure enacted last weekend that targets Iran's central bank, which processes most of the Islamic republic's oil sales.

The European Union is the second-biggest destination for Iranian oil after China, accounting for around 15 percent of the 2.6 million barrels exported each day, or some 450,000 barrels.

Iran relies on oil sales for 80 percent of its foreign revenues.