The US government is expected to announce today that all countries importing oil from Iran must end their purchases very soon, because otherwise they will face heavy US sanctions, a source told Reuters.
The announcement that Washington is preparing to end its sanctions exemptions has sparked a rise of about 3% in crude market prices.
A Reuters source confirmed the information referred to by the newspaper's first columnist The Washington Post, which will end the validity of the exemptions granted to countries that import Iranian oil at the end of last year.
President Donald Trump has made it clear to his national security advising team in recent weeks that he wants the exceptions to end, and White House National Security Adviser John Bolton has taken up the issue.
In November, the United States reinstated sanctions targeting Iran's oil exports after Trump withdrew his country from the 2015 international agreement on the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. However, Washington granted eight of Iran's leading oil importers temporary exemptions from sanctions, which allowed them to continue buying more limited quantities for six months.
These countries are China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece.
But today, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to announce that from May 2, no exemption from US sanctions will be granted to any country that imports Iranian crude, the columnist revealed. The Washington Post, citing two State Department officials he did not name.
US officials have recently reiterated that the goal is to eliminate Iran's crude exports "as soon as possible."
The largest importers of crude and concentrate from Iran are China, India, but also South Korea.
- Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ.