In About-face, White House Considers Waivers On Iran Oil Sanctions

The United States is actively considering granting sanctions waivers to countries that greatly curb, but do not fully eliminate, their imports of Iranian oil, ahead of the re-imposition next month of a second batch of American financial penalties targeting the Islamic Republic’s crucial energy sector. While the Trump administration previously indicated an intent to bring Iranian crude exports “down to zero,” a U.S. official confirmed this weekend that the White House is “in the midst of an internal process” that could result in issuing so-called Significant Reduction Exemptions “on a case-by-case basis.” The apparent about-face comes after India, the second biggest consumer of Iranian oil after China, announced that it will purchase nine million barrels of product from Tehran in November even as renewed sanctions take effect. Meanwhile, the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal—namely, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China—have vowed to circumvent the American restrictions through the creation of a “special purpose vehicle” that could include a mechanism for bartering goods for Iranian oil. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the atomic pact in May and has since moved to tighten the screws on Iran in a bid to get the mullahs back to the negotiating table.