The oil market should be prepared for the possibility that US sanctions against Iran will either be tightened or that the current, more softer restrictions will be extended, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2018) The oil market should be prepared for the possibility that US sanctions against Iran will either be tightened or that the current, more softer restrictions will be extended, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday."The way they [US] will act in April-May is determined by what policy they set for themselves today. It is difficult to forecast, almost impossible. We should be prepared both for extension of import concessions and for tougher sanctions," Novak told reporters.
In May, the United States announced its unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and re-imposition of sanctions. In August and November, two packages of US sanctions against Tehran came into effect in order to force Tehran to negotiate a new agreement. Washington's decision was not supported by other signatories to the deal China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union which insisted that Iran respected its part of the deal.
The restrictions include measures that curb Iran's oil industry. Only eight nations China, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey received temporarily exemptions from the sanctions on importing oil from Iran.
