Tasnim � Iranian First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri said the volume of the country�s exports in the first half of the current Iranian year has risen by 22 percent compared to last year in spite of the foreign sanctions.

Addressing a Monday session of the High Council of the Industrial Free Trade and Special Economic Zones, Jahangiri praised Iranian exporters for contributing to the country�s economic growth.

Hailing the exporters for being at the front line of the fight against the economic war, the vice president said despite all sanctions and cruel pressures against Iran, the volume of exports during the first half of the current year has increased by 22 percent in comparison to the corresponding period last year.

�All Iranian organizations and institutions in charge of exports must support the country�s business people and exporters and pave the way for an increase in the non-oil exports,� he underlined.

Jahangiri also said that the neighboring countries are the best target markets for Iranian exports, urging the Free Trade Zone officials to prepare the ground for a stronger presence of Iranian businesses in Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Central Asian states, and the southern neighbors.

The vice president explained that an export boom will help Iran reduce the currency deficit, adding, �Under the current circumstances in which the country�s currency income has diminished because of the oil sanctions, we must seize the opportunity and strengthen the non-oil exports sector to supply the needed currency.�

Last month, Head of Iran�s Plan and Budget Organization Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said the next year�s national budget bill has been prepared with a substantial reduction in the share of petrodollars.

Iran�s efforts to cut reliance on the oil incomes began long before the US administration announced plans in 2018 to drive the Islamic Republic�s oil exports down to zero.

Tensions between Iran and the US have escalated since US President Donald Trump walked away from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The White House has announced plans to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports and launch a campaign of �maximum economic and diplomatic pressure� on Iran.