Iran says there is no ban on American companies working in the country’s oil industry.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told ILNA news agency that “American companies face no ban for entering our oil industry.”

He added that American companies “have not directly applied” to work in Iran’s oil industry so far.

This is the first such remark by an Iranian official after an executive order signed by the US president Donald Trump on Friday banning immigration and visa processing for Iranians  alongside six other Muslim countries.

In January, Iran’s Oil Ministry published a list of 29 international companies qualified to bid for oil and gas projects following the lifting of sanctions under a landmark nuclear accord that went into effect last year.

Earlier, Deputy Oil Minister for International Affairs and Trading, Amir-Hossein Zamani-Nia expressed hope that Trump would review the current conditions to create more jobs in the US oil and gas industry and pave the way for the operation of American companies in Iran.