U.S. may extend Iranian sanction waivers for half-year

PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States is likely to exempt India, South Korea, Turkey and others from Iranian financial sanctions for another six months on Friday, December 7 as a reward for reducing crude purchases from the Islamic republic, two U.S. government sources said, according to Reuters.

Oil shipments by Iran have more than halved in 2012 in the face of U.S. and European Union sanctions aimed at cutting Tehran's foreign exchange earnings and funding for a nuclear program they suspect is designed for a military purpose. Iran denies that the program is for nuclear weapons.

The U.S. sanctions, which target financial transactions, have gradually tightened the noose on Iran's crude sales. But exports took a deep hit in July when EU sanctions kicked in, largely because they effectively, overnight, banned insurance cover on ships carrying Iranian crude.

The sanctions have sharply curtailed the market for Iranian crude, with Asian buyers and Turkey the only customers this month, according to shipping sources. EU sanctions included a ban on members from buying Iranian crude.

On June 11, a number of countries received their first round of reprieves from U.S. sanctions that President Barack Obama signed into law a year ago. Under the law, banks in countries that buy oil from Iran can be cut off from the U.S. financial system unless their purchases are reduced.

U.S. waivers for China, the top consumer of Iran's oil, and Singapore are due to expire on December 25, 180 days after they were issued. Both countries are expected to get waiver extensions because they have reduced oil purchases from Iran. Those waivers could also be issued on Friday, one of the government sources and an oil industry source said.

Japan and 10 EU countries received six-month sanction reprieves from the United States in September.