Pompeo defends Iran oil sanctions waivers

Bloomberg

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo defended the temporary waivers granted to eight countries to continue buying Iranian crude oil for now against Congressional critics and others who say the US is being too lenient on the Islamic Republic.
The comments on “Fox News Sunday” come a day before US sanctions on Iran’s energy and shipping are due to snap back following President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement.
“The president’s policy of maximum pressure will be fully in place come tomorrow,” Pompeo said during the interview.
“Watch the Iranians. That’s who really understand the importance and the impact of the effort that we’re undertaking.”
Pompeo said the US moves have “had an enormous impact already.” Iranian crude oil exports have already been reduced by over 1 million barrels a day and will continue to fall, he added.
Pompeo wouldn’t say if India and China are receiving waivers, or if they’d delivered commitments to stop their buying.
Bloomberg reported that India, Japan and South Korea are among those approved, and that China is in discussions on terms but is among the eight, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
The waivers are aimed at countries that “need a little bit more time” to get their purchases down to zero, Pompeo said, a comment consistent one made, when he said waivers were being given to importers who’ve made “important moves” towards shunning Iranian oil.
The pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran, led in part by former Senator Joe Lieberman, lashed about the waivers, tweeting that the administration had “caved.”
Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida also took issue with the waivers.
In a separate interview on Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Pompeo said hundreds of businesses have left Iran since Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal, and any European companies doing business there won’t do business with the US.
Asked on CBS whether Iran could restart its nuclear programme, Pompeo said, “We’re confident that the Iranians will not make that decision.”