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Reuters

The United States will sanction any country that imports Iranian oil and there are no exemptions in place, Washington’s special envoy for Iran said on Friday.
US President Donald Trump targeted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials with sanctions on Monday, taking an unprecedented step to increase pressure on Iran after Tehran’s downing of an unmanned American drone last week.
“We will sanction any imports of Iranian crude oil,” Brian Hook said when asked about the sale of Iranian crude to Asia, adding that the US would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China.
“There are right now no oil waivers in place,” Hook told reporters in London. “We will sanction any illicit purchases of Iranian crude oil.”
Trump threatens ‘obliteration’ as Iran condemns sanctions on Khamenei
Tehran has been selling increased volumes of petrochemical products at below market rates in countries, including Brazil, China and India since the US reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports in November, Reuters reported.
“Iran does have a history of using front companies to evade sanctions and enrich the regime and fund its foreign adventurism,” Hook said, adding that Iran routinely violates maritime law to hide its oil exports.
Last year, Trump pulled the US out of the multinational deal under which sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).




Washington has since reimposed tough sanctions on Iran, aiming to cut the Islamic Republic’s oil sales to zero to force it to negotiate a broader deal that would also cover its ballistic missile capabilities and regional influence.
Trump says will be Iran’s ‘best friend’ if it renounces nukes
Iran wants to sell its oil at the same levels that it did before Washington withdrew from the accord.
“Iran has just rejected diplomacy too many times,” Hook said. “They have got to stop this sectarian agenda of creating a Shia corridor of power to dominate the Middle East.”
“This is a clerical regime that wants to remake the Middle East in its image – and that would deeply destabilise the Middle East to have regimes following the same Marxist theocratic regime,” he added.


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Iran

We will sanction any countries that import Iranian oil, US warns

A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Persian Gulf, Iran. Photo: Reuters

Donald Trump sanctions Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks live on television after casting his ballot in the Iranian presidential election in Tehran in June 2009. Photo: Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order imposing sanctions on Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, June 24, 2019. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that the sanctions would deny Khamenei access to financial resources. Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Pool via Bloomberg

Donald Trump says US was ‘cocked and loaded’ to strike Iran

US President Donald Trump. Photo: AP

TOPSHOT - This undated US Air Force file photo released on June 20, 2019 shows a photo of a RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. - A US spy drone was some 34 kilometers (21 miles) from the nearest point in Iran when it was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile June 20, 2019, a US general said. "This dangerous and escalatory attack was irresponsible and occurred in the vicinity of established air corridors between Dubai, UAE, and Oman, possibly endangering innocent civilians," said Lieutenant General Joseph Guastella, who commands US air forces in the region."At the time of the intercept the RQ-4 was at high altitude, approximately 34 kilometers from the nearest point of land on the Iranian coast," he said, over a video to the Pentagon press briefing room. (Photo by Handout / US AIR FORCE / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / US AIR FORCE/HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS -

FILE PHOTO: The purported wreckage of the American drone is seen displayed by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, Iran June 21, 2019. Tasnim News Agency/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY/File Photo

News

World

United States & Canada

Middle East

Washington’s special envoy Hook said the US would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China
He said Iran routinely violates maritime law to hide its oil exports


Washington’s special envoy for Tehran said the US would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China.


United States

Diplomacy

We will sanction any countries that import Iranian oil, US warns

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Washington’s special envoy Hook said the US would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China He said Iran routinely violates maritime law to hide its oil exports

Washington’s special envoy Hook said the US would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China

He said Iran routinely violates maritime law to hide its oil exports