It Is Time to give a shut up Call to USA On Iran Oil Sanctions
US President Donald Trump on Monday decided to blaze away once again in true cowboy style, without thinking of the consequences to his dear America. This time the target instead of running away like the outlaws or the red Indians, instead scare him only to hell. He has now decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, in an attempt to further squeezing Tehran’s top export commodity.
“President Donald J. Trump has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) when they expire in early May. This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The above move could have implications on not only India’s energy security but also on those of China and Japan. Hence these countries may have no option but to tell the bully to just get lost.
Trump is acting as if he can control the rest of the world. India has already told the USA that it will only follow those sanctions which are lawfully placed by the United Nations.
The implications of the decision are being studied, said government sources on the decision by the US.
The US re-imposed sanctions on Iran last November, after President Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 Iran nuclear deal.The US move, seen as an escalation of President Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” on Iran, comes after it last year gave temporary 180-days waiver to eight countries, including India, China, Turkey and Japan among others.
As a result of this decision USA wants that all countries including India to bring down their import of oil from Iran by May 2. Greece, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have already heavily reduced their oil imports from Iran. Though India should certainly not listen to such unilateral actions and must act what is best for it and just ignore US on this issue.
Iran is India’s third-largest oil supplier behind Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil during April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of 2017-18 fiscal).
The US, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world’s great energy producers, along with its friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied, Sanders said.
“We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market,” she said.
In a statement, Sanders said the Trump Administration and its allies are determined to sustain and expand the maximum economic pressure campaign against Iran to end the regime’s destabilising activity threatening the United States, its partners and allies, and security in the Middle East.
“The President’s decision to eliminate all SREs follows the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation, demonstrating the US’ commitment to disrupting Iran’s terror network and changing the regime’s malign behaviour. We welcome the support of our friends and allies for this effort,” Sanders said.
Mr Sanders, friends do not take such unilateral actions but carry out consultation and then action which suits everyone is taken.
China and India are currently the largest importers of Iranian oil. If they don’t go along with Trump’s demands, that could cause tensions in both bilateral relationships and spill over into other issues, like trade, the Washington Post reported. This will be inevitable.
