"In the coming 24 hours, 4 million barrels of crude oil will be loaded onto 3 tankers destined for Europe," Rokneddin Javadi, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, was quoted as saying by the Shana news agency.

"Of those 4 million barrels of crude, 2 million barrels are assigned to France's Total, and 2 million barrels have been bought by two companies in Russia and Spain," he added.

(Reporting by Sam Wilkin; Editing by Toby Chopra)