Mubasher: Iran will defy the newly-imposed US sanctions and continue to sell its oil, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on state TV on Monday, Reuters reported.

"America wanted to cut to zero Iran's oil sales ... but we will continue to sell our oil ... to break sanctions," Rouhani reportedly told economists at a live-broadcast meeting.

Earlier on Monday, the US reimposed sanctions on Iran, an attempt from the White House to pressure the oil-rich country into curbing its nuclear programme as well as its missile and regional activities.

The first bundle of sanctions was imposed in August but the heftier commenced earlier today.

On Friday, the Trump administration said it would grant eight countries “special exceptions” so that they can temporarily import oil from Tehran despite the imposed sanctions.

Japan, India, and South Korea are among the eight countries given waivers, the purpose of which is to keep oil prices from spiking once the sanctions are re-imposed.

Earlier in May, when US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, he gave oil importers 180 days to trim down their purchases of Iranian oil. Meanwhile, the eight waivers should allow these countries to reduce their purchases of Iran’s crude gradually after the 4 November deadline.

By 11:46 am GMT, US crude (Nymex) dropped 0.63% to $62.74 per barrel (pb) on Monday, while Brent crude fell 0.41% to $72.53 pb.