WASHINGTON – The United States said it is renewing exemptions for Japan and some EU countries from the tough sanctions Washington imposed on nations buying oil from Iran.
A total of 20 countries have “continued to significantly reduce the volume of their crude oil purchases from Iran,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement issued Wednesday.
Japan, a close U.S. ally, has also cut imports despite energy shortfalls in the wake of the tsunami and nuclear crisis that started two years ago, granting it an exemption.
Under a law meant to pressure the Iranian leadership over its contested nuclear program, the United States bars banks from nations that purchase Tehran’s key money-maker from doing business in the world’s largest economy.
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Hillel Weintraub