The US introduced the ‘toughest sanctions on Iran’

The US introduced the ‘toughest sanctions on Iran’.  The sanctions cover Iran’s banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.

The sanctions follow U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial decision in May to abandon the 2015 multi-nation nuclear deal with Tehran.

President Trump says that he wants to get Iran back to the negotiating table on the nuclear issue. The Trump administration also says it wants to stop what it calls Tehran’s “malign” activities including cyber attacks, ballistic missile tests, and support for terror groups in the Middle East

India and China — the two biggest buyers of Iranian crude, have so far appeared to have skipped the punitive American sanctions targeting the Iranian oil and financial sectors.

The two Asian giants are believed to be among the eight countries that have been given the rare temporary exemptions from the Iranian sanctions that kicked off on Monday.

The Trump administration said it has asked these countries including Turkey, Iraq, Italy, Japan, and South Korea to bring down their oil purchase to zero as soon as possible.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to reveal which countries received waivers from U.S. sanctions to continue importing Iranian oil. But he said the eight unidentified nations “need a little bit more time to get to zero.” He repeatedly parried questions when asked about the commitment from India and China on zero-oil purchase from Iran.

“India, which is the second biggest purchaser of Iranian oil after China, is willing to restrict its monthly purchase to 1.25 million tonnes or 15 million tonnes in a year (300,000 barrels per day), down from 22.6 million tonnes (452,000 barrels per day) bought in 2017-18 financial year, sources in New Delhi had said last week.

In May, President Trump had pulled U.S. out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) terming it as disastrous. Under the Obama-era deal, involving five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, Iran agreed to stop its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

President Hassan Rouhani said Iran “will proudly bypass sanctions” by the U.S.

“We are in a situation of economic war, confronting a bullying power. I don’t think that in the history of America, someone has entered the White House who is so against law and international conventions,” he added.