U.S BELIEVES RUSSIA MAY BE RESELLING IRAN’S OIL TO BYPASS SANCTIONS

U.S BELIEVES RUSSIA MAY BE RESELLING IRAN’S OIL TO BYPASS SANCTIONS
By Paul Antonopoulos On Oct 24, 2018A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oil fields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in the Persian Gulf, Iran, July 25, 2005. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/File Photo - RTSS235

The White House fears that Russia could help Tehran bypass sanctions by selling Iranian oil, the Financial Times writes, quoting a source in the administration of Donald Trump.

“Iran might be pushing the idea of Russia selling their oil on the world market to evade sanctions,” a senior administration official said. “I would discourage Russia from even considering this. It would be in Russia’s best interests not to facilitate Iranian evasion of US sanctions.”

Earlier, it was reported that Russia could buy oil from Iran for resale later, allowing Tehran to avoid the economic restrictions imposed by Washington. The strategy would have been approved by the leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey within the framework of the trilateral summit in Tehran on 7 September.

The United States has again imposed sanctions on Iran on August 7. Restrictions on Iranian oil exports will enter into force on November 5.

The European Union does not recognize the reintroduction of sanctions by the US and does not allow European companies to observe them, but these are in fact putting an end to their business with Iran fearing punishment from Washington. The United States has announced the goal of making imports of Iranian oil by the various countries “reduced to zero”.

“Our goal remains to get to zero oil imports from Iran as quickly as possible, ideally by November 4,” said a state department spokesperson.

But in recent weeks the US authorities have stated for the first time that they are also prepared to offer special exemptions and reductions for some buyers, increasing Tehran’s chances of continuing to export oil to countries that have shown a reduction in the overall volume of imports of Iranian oil, writes the issue.

“The United States is in the midst of an internal process to consider SRE waivers for individual countries,” a state department spokesperson told the FT. “We are prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case-by-case basis.”

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