India engaged with the US on Iran oil issue, says MEA

Representational picture

India on Thursday said it was engaged with the US, Iran and other stakeholders on the issue of American sanctions on the import of Iranian oil, amid indications that the Trump administration may grant New Delhi waiver from punitive measures.

Asked about reports that the US was going to grant India a waiver from the Iran sanctions, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar said the government has not heard anything from Washington.

The US has told India and other countries to cut oil imports from the Gulf nation to "zero" by November 4 or face sanctions. India has held several rounds of conversations with the US, Iran and other stakeholders on the issue. "As far as the US is concerned, they are well aware of our expectations of the requirement of oil which is very critical for sustaining our domestic growth.

We continue to engage with the US and other stakeholders to ensure that our energy security is not compromised," Kumar said during a media briefing. There have been indications that India may not totally stop the import of crude oil from Iran. In May, the US brought back sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal which was struck in 2015.

Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied 18.4 million tonnes of crude oil between April 2017 and January 2018 (first 10 months of fiscal 2017-18). According to sources in the know, India is close to a deal with the US that will allow it to continue buying crude oil from Iran without attracting any sanction after it agreed to cut imports and escrow payments.

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