India will continue to buy oil from Iran despite United States’ warnings to countries to refrain from doing so, Tehran said on Wednesday. Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remark after meeting Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New York, on the sidelines of a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting an ANI video.

“Our Indian friends have always been categorical in terms of their intention to continue economic cooperation and import of oil from Iran,” Zarif said, after the meeting. “We have comprehensive cooperation with India and that comprehensive cooperation also includes energy cooperation because Iran has always been a reliable source of energy for India.”

On June 27, the United States asked its allies, including India, to end all imports of crude oil from Iran by November 4, when sanctions against Tehran again come into effect. A senior US State Department official said countries would be subject to sanctions if oil imports from Iran are not cut to zero.

However, on July 11, Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to India Massoud Rezvanian Rahaghi warned India that Tehran will end “special privileges” for New Delhi if it attempts to replace Iranian crude with supplies from Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States.