TEHRAN – Japan is seeking to convince the U.S. government to extend the waivers on Iran oil sanctions, S&P global Platts reported quoting a Japanese government official as saying on Wednesday.

It comes after Japanese refiners have already suspended loadings of Iranian oil ahead of the country's sanctions waiver expiry in early May, the official said.

Earlier on Monday, Japan and U.S. discussed Iran sanctions in which the Japanese plead that that “the U.S. sanctions should not have a harmful effect on Japan's stable energy supply and its corporate activity," the Japanese government official said.

As reported, the Monday meeting was attended by Hiroshi Oka, Japan's Director-General/Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs for Middle Eastern and African Affairs, and Sandra Oudkirk, U.S. deputy assistant secretary, bureau of energy resources, at the Department of State, along with other officials from Japan's ministry of economy, trade and industry and the U.S. department of energy.

Japan is among the eight countries with the U.S.’s 180-day waivers allowing them to keep importing Iranian oil through May 4. Confusion surrounding shipping, insurance and banking rules under the U.S. sanctions kept some of the countries from resuming imports for months after the U.S. granted waivers on November 5.

On February 3, Platts reported that Japan's largest refiner JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy was set to resume loading of Iranian crude oil as early as Monday (February 4), almost three months after the U.S. sanctions waiver was granted.

EF/MA