Iran wants to increase crude oil output to restore its market share to the pre-sanctions level, Mr Hassan Hakimian, Director of the London Middle East Institute at SOAS, University of London, told Armenia News – NEWS.am, commenting on recently lifted sanctions against Iran.

There are some public perceptions that Iran is deliberately flooding the oil markets, but the country just wants to regain its previous foothold, he added.

Responding to the question on concerns with Western customers about the security of deals with Iran, Hakimian said: “The gradual dismantling of the financial and insurance sanctions will reduce those uncertainties and Iranian oil will be increasingly attractive to future buyers.”

That oil will also be cheaper, at least in near term, given the current glut and lower demand, in large part due to China's weaker economic growth. “In this environment, oil exporters' ability to sell more will inevitably lead to sales at a greater discount and this has been pushing prices down”, he added.

From 1 July 2012, the EU, which had been purchasing 20% of Iranian crude, halted its imports, the largest buyers remaining India and China.

On Jan 17, the US and the EU lifted financial and oil sanctions against Iran and released about $100 bln of the country’s assets.

According to the statements of Iranian energy sector policymakers, the country wants to upsurge its crude output by 1 mln barrels per day (roughly twice the levels of today) within a year.