India Among 8 Nations to be Spared from US Sanctions on Iran

As the November 4 deadline to impose sanctions on Iran looms ever closer, it is believed that eight countries would be allowed to continue importing crude oil from Iran following the imposition of the sanction. The reason for this appears to be that the US is confident that in the lead up to the sanctions coming into effect, Iran’s crude oil exports have been severely reduced, allowing it to exercise some magnanimity when it comes to handpicking the eight nations that will be allowed to continue trading with Iran.

So far, the US Government has not confirmed this report or named the 8 countries that will be exempt from the effects of the sanctions. However, it appears that sources in Congress and others familiar with the matter on a firsthand basis confirmed to Bloomberg that such a move was in the offing. According to Reuters, the largest trading partners that Iran has were likely to be the ones that would be part of the exemption. The list of nations includes India, but also China, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The lead up to these sanctions had seen oil prices rise rapidly with some estimates for the per-barrel price expected to cross $90. However, production increases by some nations including the US have seen that price come back down significantly, and while the exemption will allow these countries to continue their trade with Iran, the additional supplies being brought back into the equation were not expected to cause any further upheavals of the market.