U.S. exempts 7 economies from Iran oil sanctions
June 13, 2012 Leave a comment
WASHINGTON, June 11 (Xinhua) — The United States will exempt seven economies including India, South Korea and Turkey from the Iran oil sanctions, as a result of their significant reduction of oil purchase from Tehran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Monday.
In a statement released by the State Department, Clinton said the seven economies are India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan, adding the decision was made because they “have all significantly reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran.”
These economies will join the 11 countries, including Japan and some European countries, that were put on the exemption list in March.
U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill at the end of last year, expanding U.S. sanctions against Iran to cover its central bank and financial sector, a move that allows penalties on foreign banks that settle oil imports with the Iranian central bank.
Clinton said the sanctions seek to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to force it to comply with its international obligations.
The law, however, offers waivers to firms from countries that significantly reduce their crude imports from Iran.
“Today’s announcement underscores the success of our sanctions implementation,” said Clinton.
“By reducing Iran’s oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran’s leaders: until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to face increasing isolation and pressure,” said the U.S. diplomat.
