WASHINGTON – The United States will exempt China, India and Japan from oilsanctions on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday, while vowingto be “relentless” in pressuring Tehran.

Hours after sweeping sanctions were reimposed following the US withdrawalfrom a denuclearization deal, Pompeo said eight countries would be at leasttemporarily exempt from the ban on buying Iranian oil due to specialcircumstances or so as not to disrupt energy markets.

The countries with the waivers will be China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan,South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey, Pompeo said.

“Our objective is to starve the Iranian regime of the funds it uses to fundviolent activity throughout the Middle East and around the world. Ourultimate goal is to encourage them to abandon their revolutionary course,”Pompeo told reporters.

A notable omission was Iraq. Had Iraq been granted a waiver, Iran mighthave been able to skirt sanctions by mixing its crude with its neighbor’soutput, analysts say.

President Donald Trump withdrew in May from the deal that his predecessorBarack Obama had reached with Iran, calling it a failure because itaddressed only the clerical regime’s nuclear program.

Pompeo reiterated demands for Iran to make a “180-degree turn” from itsregional policies rooted in the 1979 Islamic revolution, such as supportfor the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

“We hope a new agreement with Iran is possible, but until Iran makeschanges in the 12 ways I listed in May, we will be relentless in exertingpressure on the regime,” Pompeo said.

Pompeo said the eight countries exempted have “already demonstratedreduction of Iranian crude over the past six months and, indeed, two ofthose eight have already completely ended imports of Iranian crude and willnot resume as long as the sanctions remain in place.”

“We continue negotiations to get all of the nations to zero,” he said.

Pompeo also said without specifying that the United States would exemptthree non-proliferation projects underway in Iran from the sanctions.

European powers have strongly disagreed with Trump’s decision, pointing outthat Iran is abiding by the nuclear agreement, and have looked to createways to allow its businesses to keep up commerce with the country.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says US pressure Iran will be “relentless” -APP/AFP