Iran hopes its crude oil exports will return to pre-sanctions levels within three months once a deal with major powers to lift an oil embargo is finalised, Iran's deputy oil minister said on Monday.

"We hope we can come back to the export levels that we had before the sanctions," Rokneddin Javadi, who is also the managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, told Reuters.

"Yes, 2.5 (million barrels per day), around," he said on the sidelines of the Asia Oil and Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur.

A recent framework deal on Iran's disputed nuclear programme between Tehran and world powers could see sanctions on Iran eventually lifted if a more permanent pact is finalised by a June deadline.

The sanctions have more than halved Iranian oil exports since 2012 to about 1 million bpd, mainly to Asia. – Reuters