From November, we will sanction all companies, including Indian ones, that buy Iranian crude oil: US

NEW DELHI: The US said today that companies that buy Iranian crude oil after this coming November will face sanctions by Washington, and this will apply to Chinese and Indian companies as well.

Companies in US partner countries around the world must completely end such imports if they want to avoid sanctions said a senior US State Department official today.

These US decisions come in the wake the US reinstating financial sanctions on Iran after Washington in May pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran. Some US Sanctions take effect from August 6, others, including those affecting the oil sector, will be effective from November.

Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia. It supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil during April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of 2017-18 fiscal).

In May, Indian government sources said to news agency PTI that its oil imports from the Islamic Republic won't be affected as long as European countries don't follow suit. And the US official said today that Washington has conveyed the message to European diplomats in recent talks, that all crude imports from Iran must end by November.


Does the US expect all countries to reduce their - or all Iranian imports to zero by November 4th, and is the US telling its allies, as well as China, India and Turkey, that their companies risk secondary sanctions on November 5th if they fail to meet end the import of Iranian crude? This was a question a reporter posed to the senior US State Department official earlier today.

"Yes", said the official.

"...Yes, we'll certainly be asking the Turks the same thing, but we haven't visited there yet. Two, on China, India - yes, certainly. Their companies - their companies will be subject to the same sanctions that everybody else's are if they engage in those sectors of the economy that are sanctionable, where there were sanctions imposed prior to 2015. And yes, we will certainly be requesting that their oil imports go to zero, without question," said the US official.


Meanwhile, three days ago sources told TOI the Indian government is set to revive an alternative payment mechanism to settle a part of its payments for oil imported for Iran over the next few days in a bid to counter the impact of US sanctions imposed on Tehran.