India will continue to purchase crude oil from Iran, says Iranian foreign minister

New York, Sep 28: Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said that India will continue to buy Iranian oil even as reports claimed that India isn't planning to buy any oil from the Persian Gulf state in November.

"Our Indian friends have always been categorical in terms of their intention to continue economic cooperation and (the) import of oil from Iran. And I heard the same statement from my Indian counterpart," Zarif told news agency Reuters when asked if India has given an assurance about continuing with oil imports.

"We have comprehensive cooperation with India and that comprehensive cooperation also includes energy cooperation because Iran has always been a reliable source of energy for India," Zarif added.

Mohammad Javad Zarif met his Indian counterpart, Sushma Swaraj, in New York on the sidelines of United Nation General Assembly (UNGA), according to a video from news agency ANI, a Reuters affiliate.

US President Donald Trump's May withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement had already spooked investors and triggered a run on the Iranian trial long before nuclear-related sanctions went back into force.

Washington is pushing allies to cut Iranian oil imports to zero once the sanctions start on November 4.

According to NDTV, Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. -- the country's two largest state-owned refiners -- haven't asked for any Iranian cargoes for loading in November.