India Renews Purchase of Iranian Oil
Since unilaterally withdrawing from the Iran nuclear agreement, the United States has launched a series of actions against Iran, including putting pressure on various countries to stop importing crude oil from Iran before November 4. Faced with pressure from "quasi-allies", India not only verbally stated that it "will not terminate oil trade with Iran", but also took practical actions to allow state-owned refineries to use cruise ships and insurance provided by Tehran to import Iranian oil.
According to a Reuters report on the 4th, many Indian shipping companies, including National Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), had previously suspended shipping to Iran due to US sanctions. In order to maintain oil trade relations with Iran, New Delhi allows state-owned refineries to import Iranian oil through ships owned by the Iranian National Cruise Line.
According to reports, after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May this year, U.S. President Trump ordered the resumption of economic sanctions against Iran and threatened that the U.S. government hopes that all countries, including allies, will stop importing oil from Iran before November 4. , otherwise they will face US sanctions, and the United States will not grant immunity to any country this time.
After the United States issued the warning, India and Turkey took the lead in stating that they would not suspend oil trade with Iran. Sunjay Sudhir, joint secretary of international cooperation at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, said as early as June 27, "India does not recognize unilateral sanctions, only sanctions imposed by the United Nations."
It is reported that Iran is India's third largest oil supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The Eurasia Group, an American think tank, stated in a report that India currently purchases 700,000 barrels of oil from Iran per day. In order to meet the growing energy demand, India regards oil as an important and strategic resource.