The US has awarded temporary exemptions to eight countries allowing them to continue buying Iranian oil. These countries are: China, India, Greece, Italy, Taiwan, Japan, Turkey and South Korea.
On 8 May, U.S. announced the decision to withdraw from participation in the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and to re-impose US nuclear-related sanctions. The announcement triggered global discussions about implications on international trade, especially in shipping. Following this decision, in August, President Trump issued an Executive Order which essentially re-imposed the secondary sanctions against Iran.
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Nonetheless, on the opposite direction of these decisions the U.S. granted exemptions to countries, including China and Greece, that have already demonstrated significant reductions to the purchase of Iranian crude oil over the past year.
We have decided to issue temporary allotments to a handful of countries responsible to specific circumstances and to ensure a well-supplied oil market. The U.S. will be granting these exemptions to China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Furthermore, the US Secretary of State informed that over 20 importing nations have zeroed out their imports of crude oil already from Iran, reducing purchases by more than 1 million barrels per day.
