TEHRAN (FNA)- China and other countries are receiving oil shipments from alarge number of Iranian tankers, defying sanctions imposed by the UnitedStates to choke off Tehran’s main source of income, an investigative reportby The New York Times said.
The NY examined the movements of more than 70 Iranian tankers since earlyMay, when Washington had decided not to extend its sanctions waivers toeight importers of Iranian crude after the exemptions expired at thebeginning of May.
It is not illegal under international law to buy and haul Iranian oil orrelated products, but the United States has stated that foreign companiesthat ignore the sanctions and do business with American companies or banksrisk being punished by Washington.
Twelve of the tankers loaded oil after May 2 and delivered it to China orthe Eastern Mediterranean, where the buyers may have included Syria orTurkey, according to The NYT’s claim.
Only some of those 12 tankers were previously known to have recentlydelivered Iranian oil, and an analyst stated the scale of the shipmentsdocumented by The NY Times investigation is greater than what had beenpublicly known.
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The continued flow of oil underscores the difficulty the administration ofUS President Donald Trump has had in using sanctions to bring Iranian oilexports to zero after breaking with allies and partners on Iran policy.
The United States left a multi-lateral nuclear agreement with Iran lastMay. Afterwards, Washington re-imposed the sanctions that had been liftedunder the accord. Since the US pulled out of the nuclear deal in May, 2018,formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), tensionshave mounted between Washington and China, Russia, and even traditionalEuropean allies, as the US sought to pressure them into complying with there-imposition of sanctions.
