BAGHDAD, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh on Thursday denounced the U.S. sanctions on Iran as "completely illegal," vowing that Iran will never comply with them.

"The U.S. sanctions against Iran are completely illegal and we believe we are not obliged to comply with them," the Iranian minister told a joint news conference with his Iraqi counterpart Thamir al-Ghadhban in Baghdad.

"Iran will not discuss the volume of oil exports or destination while it remained under U.S. sanctions," Zanganeh told reporters after meeting with al-Ghadhban.

Zanganeh said that he discussed with al-Ghadhban the means to improve bilateral cooperation in different aspects, including oil and energy issues.

For his part, al-Ghadhban said "that there are opportunities for further cooperation between Iraq and Iran, hoping that the talks would bring about success to the bilateral ties."

Washington withdrew from the landmark 2015 Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, targeting its shipping, financial and energy sectors.