A file photo taken on Feb. 6, 2017 shows the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar's principal site for production of liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquid, administrated by Qatar Petroleum, some 80 km north of Doha. (AFP file photo)

TEHRAN, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Iran says Qatar's decision to quit the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows frustration of small crude producers with the dominant role of Saudi Arabia in OPEC, a senior Iranian energy official said Monday.

"This (Qatar's decision) is very regretful and we understand their frustration," Iran's OPEC governor, Hossein Kazempour Ardebili, was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Ardebili said the decision by Doha reflects a growing anger by producers against what he described as the unilateral approach adopted by the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC).

JMMC is a committee led by OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia and the global major crude producer, Russia, to decide over the oil production cuts.

"There are also many other OPEC members that are frustrated with the JMMC's unilateral decisions on crude production without the required prior consensus of OPEC member states," said Ardebili.

Qatar will withdraw from the OPEC since January 2019, said a report by Qatar-based English newspaper Gulf Times on Monday.