On Saturday Iran accused US President Donald Trump of destabilizing the oil markets with his flurry of tweets taking aim at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel.
"These days... the price is dependent on the behaviour of Mr Trump," Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on state television.
"Every day, Mr. Trump has a new message or remark that causes concern in the market, or he gives OPEC members orders that are very insulting," or demands other countries increase their production, Zanganeh said.
In his latest tweet on the subject last Wednesday, Trump said that the "OPEC Monopoly must remember that gas prices are up and they are doing little to help".
He has repeatedly pleased with OPEC to raise its production. OPEC and other producers including Russia to take action. Last month OPEC and Russia agreed to increase production by around a million barrels a day, undoing the production cuts that the world’s largest oil producers put into effect nearly 1 months ago.
OPEC’s move came as Iran - an OPEC member - faces renewed sanctions over Trump's decision to quit the international nuclear deal with Tehran, which has added to supply concerns on world markets. Iran has made no effort to hide the fact that it is furious that other OPEC members, specifically Saudi Arabia, will benefit from increased production while Iran is losing money.