TEHRAN – As Iran’s two major oil buyers, Japan and South Korea are in talks with the U.S. in order to get waivers over U.S. sanctions on Iran for buying crude oil from the country.

As Reuters reported, earlier on Wednesday Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that Japan and the United States were in talks about the sanctions on Iran, but declined to reveal details.

South Korea as well is negotiating with the U.S. in order to get an exemption from the U.S. sanctions, an Energy Ministry official who declined to be named told Reuters.
“We are in the same position as Japan. We are in talks with the United States and will keep negotiating to get an exemption,” said the official.
The United States is demanding countries cut all imports of Iranian oil from November, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on allies to cut off funding to Iran.
Both Japan and South Korea won waivers that allowed them to buy limited amounts of oil from Iran during the previous round of sanctions that ended in 2016.

EF/MA