File photo of Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Iran's petroleum minister. (Photo: VCG)

TEHRAN, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Iran's petroleum minister on Thursday ruled out the possibility that his country would quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) following a Qatari decision to do so, official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iran is a founder of the OPEC and will not exit from the organization," Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Zanganeh regretted that Qatar has decided to leave the OPEC, saying "Iran is not happy about Qatar's withdrawal from the OPEC."

The Iranian petroleum minister arrived in Vienna on Thursday to attend an OPEC meeting on the day to discuss cut of oil output by the cartel seeking to re-balance the market amidst the surprise slips of the oil prices over the past weeks.

On Monday, Qatar announced to withdraw from the OPEC since January 2019.