U.S. official rules out further waivers on Iran oil imports

By Trend

The United States will grant no more waivers for Iranian oil after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. special representative for Iran said on Saturday, underlining Washington’s push to choke off Tehran’s sources of income, Trend reports citing Reuters.

“Iran is now increasingly feeling the economic isolation that our sanctions are imposing...We do want to deny the regime revenues,” Brian Hook told a news conference in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi.

“Eighty percent of Iran’s revenues come from oil exports and this is (the) number one state sponsor of terrorism.We want to deny this regime the money it needs,” Hook said.

“We want a new and better deal (with Iran) but in that process we are denying the Iranian regime billions and billions of dollars and they are facing a liquidity crisis,” Hook said.

The Islamic Republic, he added, would not return to the negotiation table without pressure.

Hook said Washington was pleased with China cutting its oil imports from Iran, and that he expected much deeper reductions in Iranian oil exports. “We are just getting started,” he said.