A prominent Russian analyst downplayed the impacts of the western sanctions on Iranian oil exports, reiterating that Iran is not facing any problem for selling its crude as it can find new customers.

Speaking to Kommersant daily, Simon Bagdasarova, who is an analyst in the Middle-Eastern Affairs, said that Iran can find new buyers for its oil among African states, or increase its oil export to China and India which are main oil buyers from Iran.

He noted that the U.S. efforts to force China and India to cut or reduce their oil imports from Iran have been useless so far.

Bagdasarova further stated that Iran has started to sell oil to a number of countries close to the Persian Gulf and is able to transfer its oil to these states by small tankers.

Iran, which sits on the world's second largest reserves of both oil and gas, is facing U.S. sanctions over its civilian nuclear program.

Iranian officials have dismissed U.S. sanctions as inefficient, saying that they are finding Asian partners instead. Several Chinese and other Asian firms are negotiating or signing up to oil and gas deals.

Analysts believe that the US-driven pressures and sanctions on Iran will have dire repercussions for the Europe, specially if Iran reciprocates the European move and blocks the Strait of Hormuz to tankers carrying crude to the EU.

Iranian officials have on many occasions said that western sanctions have backfired as they have given Tehran a strong feeling of self-reliance, adding that embargos have turned Iran, a once importer of gasoline and gasoil, to an exporter of such products.

The Iranian officials also played down the effects of embargos against Tehran, and said the recent oil ban against Iran will help the country's old dream for having an oil free economy to come true.