TEHRAN, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran has started exporting gasoline, an official was quoted by the local satellite Press TV as saying on Tuesday.

"The first shipment of Iran's gasoline has been exported," Ali Asghar Arshi, manager of international affairs at the National Iranian Oil Company, was quoted as saying.

Arshi did not say which country had bought Iran's first gasoline shipment, according to the report.

"By producing (gasoline) in some petrochemical complexes, Iran has reached self-sufficiency in gasoline and will soon export more gasoline shipments," he said.

On Thursday, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said that Iran has stopped gasoline imports and is planning for its exports, said the state IRIB TV.

"Soon, we will export two ships of gasoline and the import of 5- billion-U.S. dollar worth of gasoline has already stopped," Rahimi was quoted as saying by IRIB TV.

Earlier this month, Iran's Oil Minister Masoud Mirkazemi said Iran had developed an urgent plan to confront the gasoline sanction pressures and gained self-sufficiency.

"By implementing the plan, the daily production of gasoline was increased to 66.5 million liters," Mirkazemi was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency.

The United States, European Union and some Western countries have approved sanctions on some forms of energy exports to Iran to make the country halt its sensitive nuclear program.