The U.S. has 180 days to exclude a number of states from its sanctions list in connection with a reduction in purchases by these countries of Iran crude oil, according to RIA Novosti.
"I am pleased to announce that Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK have again obtained the right to be excluded from the list of sanctions based on the reduction in volume of purchases of crude oil from Iran," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated.
In June, China, Singapore, India, Malaysia, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan were also excluded from the sanctions list for 180 days renewable. It is expected that the period will be extended.
The US Congress earlier this year gave the administration the right to apply additional unilateral sanctions on foreign financial institutions and companies that make deals with Iran. The purpose of this step was to reduce the funding of Iran's economy by forcing foreign countries to abandon the purchase of Iranian oil and the isolation of the Central Bank of Iran.
Clinton again called on Iran to comply with its international obligations and to approach negotiations with the "Six" seriously.
