Iran Oil Imports: India to ask for waivers on sanctions

NEW DELHI: India will ask for waivers on new US sanctions on Iran as it seeks to minimise the impact of curbs on oil imports from Tehran, the Times of India reported on Saturday, without identifying a source for its report. India’s National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon met the US ambassador in New Delhi, Peter Burleigh, on Friday, the newspaper reported. Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai is expected to discuss the matter further when he travels to Washington. US President Barack Obama last month signed into law new sanctions against financial institutions dealing with Iran’s central bank, the main conduit for the country’s oil revenues. The latest sanctions – part of US effort to reduce Iran’s oil revenue and force the country to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons programme – have pushed up global crude prices. India is the second highest consumer of Iranian oil after China.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 8^th, 2012.