Some countries might get waivers to continue importing crude oil from Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested. Speaking during an interview with Sky News Arabia, the top U.S. diplomat said, "There will be a handful of countries that come to the US and ask for relief from that. We'll consider it."
Pompeo, however, said that continuing to buy Iranian crude despite the sanctions, which will take effect on November 4, will lead to a response. "Come November 4, there will be a U.S. sanction that prevents crude oil from passing from Iran to other countries. It will be sanctionable activity. We will enforce those sanctions," he said.
China, India, and Europe are for now the biggest buyers of Iranian crude. China has indicated that it has no intention of complying with U.S. sanctions, especially now that the US and China are embroiled in a quickly escalating trade war. Meanwhile, India is desperately trying to strike a balance between the U.S. and Iran.
The European Union has suggested that it will try to find ways around the sanctions, possibly by invoking a protectionist piece of legislation from the 1990s, but it has not made any moves in this direction yet save for a declaration that it will continue to import Iranian crude, which it made after a meeting of the Joint Commission of the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported in late June that European refiners have started to cut oil deliveries from Iran, wary of the coming sanctions, apparently not trusting the EU to score a waiver with the State Department.
Pompeo’s statement comes amid rising oil prices and might indicate that Washington has come to terms with the fact that the pressure it is applying on allies to make them stop importing Iranian crude is spooking traders and boosting prices.