TEHRAN - India's Ministry of External Affairs announced that the country will continue importing Iranian oil using the U.S. granted waiver, Sputnik reported on Friday.

"We have had several rounds of meeting with Iran and several other stakeholders. I can tell you that India continues to import oil from Iran. We have got a waiver in this regard and we will continue to be engaged with all the stakeholders as far as matters related to India's energy security are concerned," Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson for India's Ministry of External Affairs, said on Friday afternoon during weekly media briefing.

The U.S. has granted exemptions to eight key Iranian oil buyers — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Taiwan, Italy and Greece.

Earlier this week, India's top bank executive said that New Delhi had begun paying Iran in Indian rupees for its oil.

Indian imports from Iran totaled about $11 billion between April and November, with oil accounting for about 90 percent.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday said that Tehran would continue to be a reliable supplier of crude oil to India. The economic partners continued to engage in the trade of oil under previous sanctions.

Indian crude imports from Iran are expected to average about 300,000-350,000 barrel per day (bpd) during the waiver period, which ends in March.

Sputnik reported on 26 December that India is looking to extend the waiver period to ensure its energy security beyond March 2019.

EF/MA