U.S. will sanction any countries that import Iranian oil: special envoy

The U.S. special envoy for Iran said on Friday that the United States will sanction any country that imports Iranian oil and there are no exemptions in place.

“We will sanction any imports of Iranian crude oil,” US Special Representative on Iran, Brian Hook, said when asked about the sale of Iranian crude to Asia.

“There are right now no oil waivers in place,” Hook told reporters in London. “We will sanction any illicit purchases of Iranian crude oil.” He further added that the United States would take a look at reports of Iranian crude going to China.

According to Hook, the US is considering denying Iran $50 billion in oil revenue.

“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.

Iran wants to sell its oil at the same levels that it did before Washington withdrew from the accord. Last year, Trump pulled the United States 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).

“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.