China was stopped from importing Iranian crude oil after the United States announced a decision that it was not extending sanctions exemptions for certain nations importing Iranian oil, the Wall Street Journal has reported on Tuesday citing sources close to the Iranian oil industry.
According to The Nations news reports, Ramin Zare, a member of the economic commission of Iran’s parliament, has said nations – Turkey, China, India, Japan, Italy, Greece, South Korea, and Taiwan – which were granted sanctions waivers by the US, has imported around a total of 1.6 million oil barrels daily in March from Iran but however, have halted their purchases.
“They are really abiding by the sanctions,” Zare said, as quoted by the newspaper.
Moreover, the newspaper also noted a tanker which belonged to China was fully loaded with the oil terminal on Iran’s Kharg Island in mid-May, later, it was acknowledged as the reinstitution of importing Iranian crude oil only by Beijing.
However, the tanker sailed to Indonesia, subsequently, and at the time remained off the Iranian coast in the Gulf of Oman.
Since tanks onshored are full, the vessels were used only to store oil, according to a source close to Iran’s oil industry.
The newspaper added businesspersons in Iran have also noted Chinese entities were no longer purchasing Iranian crude oil, simultaneously, Tehran has not lost its hope of restarting sales to Beijing.
In April, the White House has announced the US was ending waivers for the oil sanctions on Iran as it was seeking to bring the nation’s crude oil export to zero. It said eight nations had agreed to dramatically reduce oil imports from Iran.