Iran's first shipments of crude oil since the lifting of sanctions two weeks ago departed from the country's main oil terminal for Japan and China on Wednesday, according to an official of the Iranian oil ministry.
Each of the tankers is carrying around 2 million barrels of crude, which is worth about $66 million, according to a source in the ministry.
Iran is aiming to boost its crude oil exports to Japan from 110,000 barrels per day during the sanctions to about 300,000, Iran State News Agency reported.
"Japan has been Iran's loyal customer and we are willing to expand economic ties," the ministry official said.
International sanctions against the Persian Gulf nation were lifted about two weeks ago under a historic nuclear deal reached last summer.
Under restrictive sanctions, Iran was only allowed to sell a fraction of its crude oil production, and international insurers were banned from providing protection and indemnity coverage to vessels carrying Iranian crude, which severely damaged the country's economy.