VIENNA (Sputnik) – "We produce more than 3.8 million barrels a day and expect to reach 4 million," Zangeneh told reporters in Vienna.
He added that Tehran was pessimistic about the likelihood that the the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) session on Thursday would freeze oil production.
"We are against the freeze. Our main goal is to determine the quotas for each country, but we do not look optimistic that such an agreement can be reached," Zangeneh stressed.
Early May oil production in Iran reached 3.7 million barrels a day. Deputy Oil Minister Rokneddin Javadi has said that his country would be ready to join OPEC’s quota policy one to two months after Tehran reached pre-sanctions output levels.
Javadi forecast in late April that the 4-million output mark would be reached this July.
In April, OPEC and major non-OPEC oil producers failed to agree on freezing oil output at January levels to shore up prices after Saudi Arabia backed out of the deal, insisting that Iran, which has been boosting oil production after years of international sanctions, should be part of any production cuts.