Shipping reports from India indicate that Indian companies have reduced their purchase of Iranian crude by 38 percent compared with the same period last year.
Reuters reports that India has made serious efforts to cut its dependence on Iranian oil and it likely will be exempted from U.S. sanctions in the same manner as Japan and European countries.
India’s oil imports from Iran have declined sharply in the past two months, and reports indicate that the U.S. and India are negotiating over India’s exemption from U.S. sanctions that will take effect later this month.
The United States proposes to impose sanctions on all foreign countries and companies that purchase Iranian oil, and countries such as China, Japan, India and Korea that have been heavily reliant on Iranian oil exports have been told to greatly reduce their dealings with Iran in order to be exempted from these sanctions.
The United States has imposed these unilateral sanctions to force Iran to submit to its demands regarding its uranium-enrichment activities and nuclear program. Iran has remained defiant, stressing that its program is peaceful and well within Iran’s rights as a signatory to the Non-proliferation Treaty.
