Seven more countries have been exempted from the new U.S. sanctions that are set to be imposed by the end of this month against countries that do business with Iran.
Reuters reports that Hillary Clinton announced yesterday, June 11, that India, South Korea, Turkey, South Africa, Taiwan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka will not be subject to the U.S. sanctions because they have significantly reduced their oil imports from Iran.
The U.S. Foreign Secretary said: “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.”
China, which buys one-fifth of Iran’s oil exports, and Singapore, which buys most of its petroleum needs from Iran, have not been exempted from U.S. sanctions so far.
The two countries are also chief U.S. business partners in Asia. Earlier, Japan and ten European countries were also exempted because of their “significant reduction” in oil purchases from Iran.
The U.S. sanctions on Iran, which will take effect on June 28, represent the world superpower’s most ambitious move to bend Iran’s will in terms of its nuclear activities.
In addition to the 27 EU members that will impose a complete embargo on Iranian oil, other countries have agreed to reduce their purchase of Iranian oil by one-fifth.
