- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on November 5, 2018 announced that eight countries including India have been exempted from the US sanctions for buying Iranian oil.
- These nations include China, Japan, Italy, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey.
- The US on November 5 imposed the toughest ever sanctions on Iran.
- The sanctions cover Iran’s banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.
- India, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports.
- Iran is its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and meets about 10 per cent of total needs.
