TEHRAN –Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and South African Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson, in a meeting in Tehran on April 28, discussed the ways to expand bilateral ties in the field of oil and gas between the two countries.

Iran was the major exporter of crude oil to South Africa before the Western-led sanctions against Iran, the Tasnim News Agency reported on Wednesday.

South Africa was the first leading importer of Iran’s crude oil in Africa and ninth in the world, before the West imposed sanctions on Iran’s economy.

The African country imported 98,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Iran before the sanctions, according to the Mehr News Agency.

South Africa is seeking to expand cooperation with Iran in case sanctions against Iran are lifted.