India on Tuesday said it was prepared to deal with the impact of the United States’ decision not to renew waivers that allowed eight countries to buy oil from Iran without facing sanctions. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said the Centre will continue to work with partner countries to secure India’s energy and economic security interests.
“The government has noted the announcement by the United States government to discontinue the Significant Reduction Exemption to all purchasers of crude oil from Iran,” Kumar said. “We are adequately prepared to deal with the impact of this decision.”
The White House announced on Monday its decision not to renew waivers. “This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Iran on Monday described the sanctions as illegal and said that it had attached “no value or credibility” to the waivers, BBC reported.
The US had re-imposed sanctions on Iran last November, after Trump pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The deal had lifted decades-old sanctions on Tehran, imposed in the wake of its nuclear programme.
The US allowed India, China, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Taiwan, Turkey and Italy to temporarily import oil from Iran without sanctions. Italy, Greece and Taiwan have already stopped buying oil from Iran.
Iran is India’s third largest supplier of oil after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. On Monday, Indian markets declined by around 1.3% as investors rushed to sell shares, on fears that rising oil prices could stoke inflation, Mint reported. On Tuesday, markets continued to decline, with the Sensex closing 80 points lower and the Nifty over 18 points lower.
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