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India rejects US embargo, to import oil from Iran
Jan 18, 2012, 08.49AM IST
NEW DELHI: Even as China cuts down drastically its oil imports from Iran, which is soon likely to run into fresh sanctions from the US and the EU, India on Tuesday declared it will continue to import crude oil from the country.
Brushing aside US sanctions that prevent financial institutions from doing business with Tehran and its central bank, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai stated that India will only accept sanctions imposed by the UN.
"We have accepted sanctions which are made by the UN. Other sanctions do not apply to individual countries. We can't accept that," said Mathai, adding that India had not sought any waiver from US sanctions.
This was even as EU high representative for foreign affairs , Catherine Ashton, told TOI on Tuesday that the sanctions against Iran by the EU, which is on the verge of banning oil imports from Iran, are designed to make Iran fulfill its obligations as a signatory to the NPT. "It's not impossible for countries like India to have a strategic relation with Iran and yet convey that it is not fulfilling its international commitments in pursuing a nuclear weapons programme. The sanctions are designed to prevent Iran's nuclear programme and nothing beyond that," Ashton said.
The Times of India
==================
NEW DELHI – India won't seek a waiver of U.S. sanctions on Iran and continues to buy crude oil from the country, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said Tuesday.
"We have accepted sanctions which are made by the United Nations. Other sanctions do not apply to individual countries. We don't accept that position," Mr. Mathai told a news conference.
Mr. Mathai's comments come as the U.S and European Union are pushing to ban or discourage Iranian oil exports and deprive the country of a key revenue source as part of efforts to force Tehran into suspending its alleged nuclear weapons program.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 31 signed a law imposing sanctions against banks that trade with the Iran's central bank, through which much of Iranian oil sales are cleared.
A country may to be granted a waiver from the U.S. bank sanctions if it reduces its crude imports from Iran, or a waiver could be granted for the stability of the crude oil market, among other exceptions.
The 27-nation EU has also agreed in principle to enact an embargo on all purchases of Iranian oil, significantly increasing the West's financial war on Tehran at a time of heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.
India gets about three-quarters of the crude it requires through imports, and Iran is its second-largest supplier after Saudi Arabia.
"We continue to buy oil from Iran. A large number of European Union countries also buy oil from Iran," Mr. Mathai said. "Each country continues to do that [buy oil]."
Mr. Mathai said a multi-ministerial Indian delegation is on its way to Tehran "to work out a mechanism for uninterrupted purchase of oil from Iran and to work out a financing mechanism."
Indian refiners such as Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. have been making payments to Iran for oil supplies through Turkey's Halkbank since July last year, after India's central bank in December 2010 disbanded a settlement mechanism that the U.S. said could be used by Tehran to finance its alleged nuclear weapons program.
Recent media reports have said that, with the U.S. and Europe tightening sanctions on Iran, Turkey may become unwilling to route India's payments.
Iranian defense officials had earlier said that they will retaliate against sanctions efforts by targeting Western ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for oil shipments. Iran's parliament has introduced a bill that would require all foreign ships to gain Tehran's permission to enter the strategic waterway.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the strait carries about 20% of all oil traded worldwide.
The Wall Street Journal
Reuters
Jan 18, 2012, 08.49AM IST
NEW DELHI: Even as China cuts down drastically its oil imports from Iran, which is soon likely to run into fresh sanctions from the US and the EU, India on Tuesday declared it will continue to import crude oil from the country.
Brushing aside US sanctions that prevent financial institutions from doing business with Tehran and its central bank, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai stated that India will only accept sanctions imposed by the UN.
"We have accepted sanctions which are made by the UN. Other sanctions do not apply to individual countries. We can't accept that," said Mathai, adding that India had not sought any waiver from US sanctions.
This was even as EU high representative for foreign affairs , Catherine Ashton, told TOI on Tuesday that the sanctions against Iran by the EU, which is on the verge of banning oil imports from Iran, are designed to make Iran fulfill its obligations as a signatory to the NPT. "It's not impossible for countries like India to have a strategic relation with Iran and yet convey that it is not fulfilling its international commitments in pursuing a nuclear weapons programme. The sanctions are designed to prevent Iran's nuclear programme and nothing beyond that," Ashton said.
The Times of India
==================
NEW DELHI – India won't seek a waiver of U.S. sanctions on Iran and continues to buy crude oil from the country, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said Tuesday.
"We have accepted sanctions which are made by the United Nations. Other sanctions do not apply to individual countries. We don't accept that position," Mr. Mathai told a news conference.
Mr. Mathai's comments come as the U.S and European Union are pushing to ban or discourage Iranian oil exports and deprive the country of a key revenue source as part of efforts to force Tehran into suspending its alleged nuclear weapons program.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 31 signed a law imposing sanctions against banks that trade with the Iran's central bank, through which much of Iranian oil sales are cleared.
A country may to be granted a waiver from the U.S. bank sanctions if it reduces its crude imports from Iran, or a waiver could be granted for the stability of the crude oil market, among other exceptions.
The 27-nation EU has also agreed in principle to enact an embargo on all purchases of Iranian oil, significantly increasing the West's financial war on Tehran at a time of heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf.
India gets about three-quarters of the crude it requires through imports, and Iran is its second-largest supplier after Saudi Arabia.
"We continue to buy oil from Iran. A large number of European Union countries also buy oil from Iran," Mr. Mathai said. "Each country continues to do that [buy oil]."
Mr. Mathai said a multi-ministerial Indian delegation is on its way to Tehran "to work out a mechanism for uninterrupted purchase of oil from Iran and to work out a financing mechanism."
Indian refiners such as Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd., Indian Oil Corp., Bharat Petroleum Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. have been making payments to Iran for oil supplies through Turkey's Halkbank since July last year, after India's central bank in December 2010 disbanded a settlement mechanism that the U.S. said could be used by Tehran to finance its alleged nuclear weapons program.
Recent media reports have said that, with the U.S. and Europe tightening sanctions on Iran, Turkey may become unwilling to route India's payments.
Iranian defense officials had earlier said that they will retaliate against sanctions efforts by targeting Western ships operating in the Strait of Hormuz, a major route for oil shipments. Iran's parliament has introduced a bill that would require all foreign ships to gain Tehran's permission to enter the strategic waterway.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that the strait carries about 20% of all oil traded worldwide.
The Wall Street Journal
Reuters
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