U.S. pushes allies to cut oil imports from Iran
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials are warning allies that they should prepare to cut oil imports from Iran to zero by November and Washington will grant no waivers from secondary sanctions against foreign companies that continue to do business with the Tehran, a State Department official said Tuesday.
“We’re going to isolate streams of Iranian funding and highlight the totality of Iran’s malign behavior across the region,” said the senior official, speaking anonymously under State Departmentground rules.
The official spoke to reporters by telephone in the middle of a worldwide road trip he and other officials are making to urge governments to start decreasing their importsfrom Iran in the wake of President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nucleardeal last month.
The official’s comments came as angry protesters in Iran’s capital held a third day of demonstrations Tuesday over the country’s anemic economy, and as the Islamic Republic’s president told the nation that it faces an “economic war” with the United States following America’s pulloutfrom the nuclear deal.
Mr. Trump’s decision to abandon the landmark agreement and reimpose sanctions is a strain on relations with U.S. allies, most of which consider the move ill-advised. Britain, France and Germany, which negotiated the nuclear deal with the United States, say they intend to uphold their commitments and still do business with Iran. They have asked the administration to grant waivers to protect their companies in key sectors such as energy, banking, aviation and pharmaceuticals.
Because U.S. allies from Asia to Europe have closer commercial ties to Iran than doesAmerica, many analysts expected some flexibility from Washington through waivers, but the administrationsays that door is closed.
“We’re not granting waivers,” the State Department official said.
The Nov. 4 deadline is 180 days after Mr. Trump withdrew from the deal, a window before sanctions take effect.
“What we’ve been telling them in bilateral meetings is, they should be preparing now to go to zero,” the official said.
The administration is taking a multifaceted approach to sever Iran from the dollarbased, world financial system. The United States seeks to drop Iranian banks from institutions like the Swift system, a network that facilitates international financial transactions, and to increase scrutiny on Iran by the Financial Action Task Force, an organization that combats money laundering and terrorist financing.
The official has already traveled to several European and Asian capitals outlining U.S. expectations, and will visit China and India next. U.S. officials also will go to the Persian Gulf seeking assurances the oil-rich nations will increase production to replace Iranian oil that will beunder sanctions.