ANALYSIS - China, India May Continue Buying Iranian Oil Despite US Sanctions Threat

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th April, 2019) China and India are both likely to continue buying Iranian crude following the US decision to end sanctions waivers for nations importing Iranian oil, while the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), proposed by the European Union to facilitate trade with Tehran, is unlikely to generate tangible results.

On Monday, Washington announced it would no longer exempt countries from US sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil in a move which the White House said was intended to "bring Iran's oil exports to zero" and deny the middle Eastern country's government its main source of revenue.

After pulling out from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also know as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and re-instating wide-ranging sanctions on Tehran, the administration of US President Donald Trump had granted sanctions waivers to India, Italy, Taiwan, China, Greece, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.

Announcing the measure, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said the United States would no longer grant sanctions waivers once they expire on May 2. Greece, Italy and Taiwan have already halted their imports of Iranian oil.

CHINA, INDIA LIKELY TO RESIST US PRESSURE

The Indian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that New Delhi had taken proper steps to tackle ramifications of the US decision to scrap sanctions waivers, stressing that India would "continue to work with partner nations, including with the US, to find all possible ways to protect India's energy and economic security interests."

China, on its part, stressed on Monday, commenting on the US move, that Beijing stood against the United States' unilateral restrictions against Iran and would take every effort to defend interests of Chinese companies companies doing legal business with the Islamic republic.

"Two major actors, that could continue buying oil from Iran are China and India. They are opposed to the unilateral character of the American decision and could defy the US, particularly China," Thierry Coville, an expert on Iran and research fellow at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), told Sputnik.

Similar views were expressed by Samuele Furfari, a professor at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and a senior civil servant at the European Commission, who told Sputnik that one could expect "a strong diplomatic language" from China, as well as its "official refusal" to stop cooperation with Tehran.

Nevertheless, he noted that both China and India could "moderate their protests" over the US decision to end sanctions waivers if there was no dramatic increase in oil price.

The White House said in a statement on Monday that the United States and its partners would take "immediate action to ensure that supplies are made available to replace all Iranian oil removed from the market."

In January, the European Commission said the SPV preparations were "at an advanced stage" and that it was seeking to announce the launch of the launch of the mechanism, which is aimed to help European companies bypass US. sanctions on Iran, "very soon."

"The Europeans have already lost on every account. Europe is weak and not even an actor anymore in the nuclear non-proliferation issue ... An Iranian official told me very recently that he could not even get Europe on the phone anymore ... (The SPV) is not dead but who would use it? The SPV has been created but does not function yet ... It is politically important to announce it, but practically, it is a joke," Coville said.

He suggested that the Europeans should take example from China and India and start buying Iranian oil again, "otherwise, the Iranians will continue to think that the Europeans make good statements but leave Iran alone bear all the economic cost of their compliance with the agreement."

Turkey, which is one of Iran's most active partners, on its part, rejected the US decision not to extend sanctions waivers, with Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressing that it "will not serve regional peace and stability."