WASHINGTON: India has ended all imports of oil from Iran, its ambassador inWashington said Thursday, becoming the latest country to grudgingly complywith threatened US sanctions.
India had already sharply decreased its imports from Iran and bought onemillion tonnes (tons) of crude in April, the last month before Washingtonstepped up its pressure campaign against Tehran and ended all exemptions tosanctions, Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.
“That’s it. After that we haven’t imported any,” Shringla told reportersduring a briefing on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election victory.
Shringla said that energy-hungry India has also ended all imports fromVenezuela because it considered itself a partner of the United States — butsaid the shift had caused pain at home, with Iran formerly supplying 10percent of India’s oil needs.
Calling Iran “an extended neighbor” of India with longstanding culturallinks, Shringla declined to say if New Delhi shared President DonaldTrump’s concerns about Tehran.
“This is an issue that has to be dealt with, really, between the UnitedStates and Iran. We are only, in many senses, looking at it as a thirdparty,” Shringla said.
But he added: “We would not like to see a move towards any escalation inany way in that area, for the simple reason that we depend very heavily onstability in that part of the world.”
Trump last year pulled out of a multinational pact under which Irandrastically scaled back its nuclear work in return for promises ofsanctions relief.
The Trump administration has instead ramped up economic pressure on Iranand recently deployed military assets including an aircraft carrier strikegroup to the area.
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The United States as of May 2 ended exemptions it had given to eightgovernments from its unilateral order to stop buying Iranian oil.
Turkey, which enjoyed a waiver and vocally disagreed with the US policy,has also stopped importing oil from Iran, a Turkish official said Wednesday.
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus welcomed the news from Turkey.
“We want the whole world to comply with these sanctions, and we’re gratefulfor our partners and allies that are respecting them,” she told reporters.
The Indian ambassador, however, voiced confidence that US sanctions wouldnot affect its partnership in developing Iran’s Chabahar port.
“I think it is in the interest of both our countries and all othersconcerned to ensure that that lifeline continues for the people ofAfghanistan,” Shringla said. -APP/AFP
