News 24 April 2019

Pompeo ends Iran oil waiver

In an effort to further ratchet up pressure on Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on 22 April that the United States ‘will not issue any additional Significant Reduction Exceptions to existing importers of Iranian oil.’

Pompeo said: ‘The Trump Administration has taken Iran’s oil exports to historic lows, and we are dramatically accelerating our pressure campaign in a calibrated way that meets our national security objectives while maintaining well supplied global oil markets. We stand by our allies and partners as they transition away from Iranian crude to other alternatives. We have had extensive and productive discussions with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other major producers to ease this transition and ensure sufficient supply. This, in addition to increasing U.S. production, underscores our confidence that energy markets will remain well supplied.’

A six-month waiver was granted to eight countries – India, China, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan – in November when President Trump signed into law new, unilateral US sanctions following his decision to pull the United States out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

News outlets have reported that the issue of the waiver has split members of the US Cabinet, with National Security Advisor John Bolton a proponent of the lifting of the waiver, and Pompeo against the move that he has just announced.

Pompeo said the announcement ‘builds on the already significant successes of our pressure campaign. We will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Iranian regime until its leaders change their destructive behavior, respect the rights of the Iranian people, and return to the negotiating table.’

Responding to the announcement, India’s official spokesperson on foreign affairs said that the country’s government had ‘noted the announcement by the US Government to discontinue the Significant Reduction Exemption [waiver] to all purchasers of crude oil from Iran,’ and that ‘We are adequately prepared to deal with the impact of this decision…Government will continue to work with partner nations, including with the US, to find all possible ways to protect India’s legitimate energy and economic security interests.’