Japan Seeking to Get Expanded Waiver From US on Iranian Oil Imports Ban - Reports
The Japanese government will ask the United States to expand the 180-day waiver allowing the country to keep importing oil from Iran despite the re-introduced sanctions against Tehran, media reported on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the second package of US sanctions, re-introduced after Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and targeting in particular Iran's oil sector, took effect.
According to NHK broadcaster, Iran accounted for 5.5 percent of Japan's crude oil imports in 2017 and the government attaches importance to imports of energy resources from various countries. Thus, Tokyo plans to seek to be exempt from this embargo.
In May, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, and reimpose its sanctions against Iran that had been lifted under the agreement.
The first round of the US restrictions came into force in August.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier said that Washington would consider waivers for the importers of Iranian oil to give them time to adjust to the new conditions, but expected all countries to eventually reduce their oil imports from Iran to zero.
In October, Bloomberg reported, citing an anonymous senior official from the US administration, that the United States had agreed to grant eight states, including India, Japan and South Korea, waivers from the upcoming US sanctions targeting the Iranian oil sector.