The United States has granted exemptions to eight countries, including Turkey, allowing them to temporarily continue buying Iranian oil, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday as Washington re-imposed sanctions on Iran’s banking, energy and shipping industries, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.
The US reintroduced sanctions on Iranian oil on Monday while giving some of Washington’s closest allies exemptions that allow Tehran’s biggest customers, mostly in Asia, to keep buying crude for now.
China, India, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Japan and Taiwan are the other countries besides Turkey that received a six-month waiver on the US’s resumed sanctions on Iran, Pompeo said.
Washington has restored measures lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal negotiated with Tehran by the administration of then-President Barack Obama.
President Donald Trump’s administration added 300 new designations including Iran’s oil, shipping, insurance and banking sectors, aiming to cripple Iran’s main export revenues from the petroleum industry.
Despite this, Iran will continue to sell some oil as Washington said it would temporarily allow eight importers to keep buying Iranian supplies.