Even as the waiver extended by the US to India and seven others on economic sanctions for crude import from Iran is to end shortly, a senior official of the Trump administration, Alice Wells, will be in New Delhi this week to discuss crucial bilateral issues with her Indian counterparts.

In a move that is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue, US President Donald J Trump has decided not to reissue Significant Reduction Exceptions (SREs) when they expire in early May. Trump tweeted that "Saudi Arabia and others in OPEC will more than make up the Oil Flow difference in our now Full Sanctions on Iranian Oil. Iran is being given VERY BAD advice by @JohnKerry and people who helped him lead the US into the very bad Iran Nuclear Deal. Big violation of Logan Act?"

“The agenda for Wells’ visit does not specifically mention Iran, but there is no doubt that there will be discussions around India’s import of oil from the country and future plans. The Indian side is keeping all data ready to demonstrate that the country has already cut down substantially on imports from Iran. At the same time, it will also seek flexibility to keep importing the minimum quantity it requires without being penalised with economic sanctions,” a government official told BusinessLine.

A White House statement said, "The United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, three of the world’s great energy producers, along with our friends and allies, are committed to ensuring that global oil markets remain adequately supplied. We have agreed to take timely action to assure that global demand is met as all Iranian oil is removed from the market. The Trump Administration and our allies are determined to sustain and expand the maximum economic pressure campaign against Iran to end the regime’s destabilizing activity threatening the United States, our 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 Organization, demonstrating the United States commitment to disrupting Iran’s terror network and changing the regime’s malign behavior. We welcome the support of our friends and allies for this effort,"

India’s import of crude oil from Iran during the April-February period of 2018-19 at $ 11.42 billion was about 11 per cent higher than in the previous fiscal.

During her visit, Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, will meet senior officials in various ministries and departments, including the Ministry of External Affairs.

 

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