AMN / WASHINGTON
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Monday said that India was among eight countries that have been exempted from the US sanctions for buying Iranian oil.
During a press conference in Washington, he announced the list of the countries temporarily exempted from the sanctions.
These include China, Japan, Italy, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey. Mr Pompeo said, these countries showed a significant reduction in oil purchase from the Persian Gulf country after the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
The US today imposed the toughest ever sanctions on Iran.
The sanctions cover Iran’s banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said, the Islamic republic will proudly bypass sanctions by the United States.
In a televised speech, Mr Rouhani termed the sanctions as illegal and unjust.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports.
Iran is its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and meets about 10 per cent of total needs.