Clinton praises India, six other nations for significantly reducing purchase of Iranian Crude

Washington -  Stating that the United States Government remains committed to following a dual-track policy that offers Iran the chance to engage seriously with the international community  to resolve concerns over the latter’s nuclear program, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was happy to note that seven nations, including India, have taken significant steps to reduce  crude oil imports from Tehran.

In a statement released simultaneously in Washington and New Delhi, Clinton said that apart from India, South Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan, have all significantly  reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran. 

“They join the 11 countries for which I made this determination in March.  As a result, I will report to the Congress that sanctions pursuant to Section 1245(d)(1) of the National Defense  Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 will not apply to their financial institutions for a potentially renewable period of 180 days,” Clinton said in her statement.

The statement further quoted her, as saying: “We have implemented these sanctions to support our efforts to prevent
Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to encourage Iran to comply with its international obligations.  Today’s announcement underscores the  success of our sanctions implementation. 

By reducing Iran’s oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran’s leaders:  until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to  face increasing isolation and pressure.”

Clinton said, “Iran has the ability to address these concerns by taking concrete steps during the next round of talks in Moscow.  I urge its leaders to do so.”