An Iranian woman walks past colourful walls in the capital Tehran. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic republic will proudly bypass sanctions by the United States that took effect on Monday targeting the country's oil and financial sectors. (AFP)
The US government will fully reinstate energy and banking sanctions against Tehran on Monday, however, eight countries will receive temporary sanctions waivers due to their significantly reduced import of oil from Iran.
Moscow (Russia), November 5 (REUTERS): The United States reintroduced sanctions against Iranian oil on Monday while giving some of Washington’s closest allies exemptions that allow Tehran’s biggest customers, mostly in Asia, to keep buying crude for now.
Washington has restored measures lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with Tehran by the administration of President Barack Obama.
President Donald Trump’s administration added 300 new designations including Iran’s oil, shipping, insurance and banking sectors, aiming to cripple Iran’s main export revenues from the petroleum industry.
Despite this, Iran will continue to sell some oil as Washington said on Friday it would temporarily allow eight importers to keep buying Iranian supplies.
The United States will exempt China, India and Japan from oil sanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, while vowing to be “relentless” in pressuring Tehran.
Pompeo listed eight countries that will enjoy temporary waivers from a ban on all oil transactions with Iran: China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey.
South Korea, a US ally and one of Asia’s biggest buyers of Iranian oil, asked Washington for “maximum flexibility” last week, after some of its construction firms cancelled energy-related contracts in the Islamic Republic due to financing difficulties.
India’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan confirmed on Saturday that the country, Iran’s top oil client after China, had won a waiver from the US sanctions after a ‘forceful campaign’ by prime minister Narendra Modi.
India hopes to continue to buy about 1.25 million tonnes of oil a month until the end of the fiscal year to March 31, unchanged from November’s level, a government official said.
China is also seeking waivers, although it remained unclear on Monday what volumes, if any, it would be allowed to purchase.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated its objections to sanctions, but would not directly say whether China had been granted an exemption.
Turkish Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan said on Saturday that Turkey had received indications that it would be among the countries granted a waiver, but was still awaiting clarification on Monday.
Some European countries may also receive exemptions.
Iran’s biggest oil buyers in recent years have been China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Japan. Taiwan also occasionally purchases Iranian crude, but is not a major buyer.
Click here to see a GRAPHIC on Iranian oil: 40 years of revolution, war, sanctions and bans.
FALLING EXPORTS
Iran said it would simply ignore the sanctions.
“It will be difficult for Iran to maximise exports when virtually all trade in oil is cleared in U.S. dollars, putting international oil companies, many national oil companies, traders and banks off limits,” said Homayoun Falakshahi from the consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
Crude exports contribute one-third of Iran’s government revenues. Exports peaked at 2.8 million barrels per day in April, including 300,000 barrels per day of condensate, but have fallen to 1.8 million bpd since then, according to WoodMac, which expects volumes to drop further to 1 million bpd.
Oil prices rallied above $85 per barrel in October on fears of a steep decline in Iranian exports. Prices have eased since then on expectations that some buyers would receive exemptions and were flat at around $73 on Monday.
“U.S. sanctions on Iran proved to be less severe than previously anticipated,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at futures brokerage FXTM.
“Exempting eight countries from the U.S. sanctions means Iranian oil will continue to flow and there’s no longer risk of a supply shortage,” he said.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
