Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Visalia Crash Sends Car Into Marie Callender’s After Driver Runs Red Light

18 hours ago

Gifford Fire Expands to 83,933 Acres in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo Counties

19 hours ago

S&P 500 and Nasdaq Lifted by Earnings, Fed Hopes

20 hours ago

Israeli Military Chief Opposes Gaza War Expansion, Raising Pressure on Netanyahu

20 hours ago

Israel Considers Full Gaza Takeover as More Die of Hunger

2 days ago

US to Initially Impose ‘Small Tariff’ on Pharma Imports, Trump Says

2 days ago

Cruz Criticizes Hochul for Wearing Headscarf at Slain Officer’s Funeral

2 days ago

Trump Says Banks Discriminate Against His Supporters While White House Prepares Order

2 days ago
US Says No More Sanctions Waivers for Importing Iranian Oil
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
April 22, 2019

Share

The Trump administration said Monday that it will no longer exempt any countries from U.S. sanctions if they continue to buy Iranian oil, stepping up pressure on Iran in a move that primarily affects the five remaining major importers: China and India and U.S. treaty allies Japan, South Korea, Turkey.

“This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.”White House statement
President Donald Trump made the decision as part of the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that aims to eliminate all of its revenue from oil exports that the U.S. says funds destabilizing activity throughout the Middle East and beyond.
“This decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue,” the White House said in a statement.
Announcing the step, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said no more sanctions waivers would be granted when the current batch expire on May 2, choking off Iranian income that had been more than $50 billion a year.
“The goal remains simply: To deprive the outlaw regime of the funds that it has used to destabilize the Middle East for decades and incentivize Iran to behave like a normal country,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department.

The Other Five Continue to Import Iranian Oil

The administration had granted eight waivers when it re-imposed sanctions on Iran in November after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. The waivers were issued in part to give those countries more time to find alternate energy sources but also to prevent a shock to global oil markets from the sudden removal of Iranian crude. Three of those waivers, for Greece, Italy and Taiwan, are no longer needed because they have all halted their imports of Iranian oil.
But the other five continue to import Iranian oil and had lobbied for their waivers to be extended. NATO ally Turkey has made perhaps the most public case for an extension, with senior officials telling their U.S. counterparts that Iranian oil is critical to meeting their country’s energy needs. They have also made the case that as a neighbor of Iran, Turkey cannot be expected to completely close its economy to Iranian goods.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticized the decision, saying it “will not serve regional peace and stability.”
In a message posted on Twitter Monday, Cavusoglu said: “Turkey rejects unilateral sanctions and impositions on how to conduct relations with neighbors.” Cavusoglu added the decision would harm the people of Iran. He tagged the U.S. State Department and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his tweet.
China, one of Iran’s largest customers, slammed the step, calling it more evidence of U.S. “unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.” China, which relies on imports for about half of its oil, could present the toughest diplomatic challenge for the U.S. in trying to enforce its sanctions.
Those arguments fell on deaf ears within the administration.

Iran Has Made Similar Threats Before

“We will no longer grant any exemptions,” Pompeo said. “We are going to zero, we’re going to zero across the board.”
Iran, meanwhile, reiterated a long-running Iranian threat to close the Strait of Hormuz if it’s prevented from using the crucial waterway in the Persian Gulf through which about a third of all oil traded at sea passes. “If we are banned from using it, we will close it,” Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

“We will no longer grant any exemptions. We are going to zero, we’re going to zero across the board.” — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
Iran has made similar threats before, and it was not clear if his remarks were related to Monday’s announcement.
Left unclear by the U.S. decision is whether the five countries will face immediate American sanctions if they continue to take delivery of Iranian oil after the waivers expire.
Two senior U.S. officials — Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook and Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources — refused to comment on whether any of them would be given additional time to complete purchases made prior to May 2 or allowed to use money already set aside for purchases after that date without penalty. Both said questions about such provisions were “hypothetical,” suggesting that some accommodation may be possible.
Fannon said the U.S. did not expect any sharp spike in oil prices or any significant reduction in the global supply of oil, given production increases by other countries, including the U.S. itself, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Benchmark U.S. Crude Oil Rose 2.4% Early Monday

Kevin Hassett, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, although benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 2.4% early Monday after the decision was announced.
Hassett told reporters at the White House he’s not concerned that the decision will negatively affect oil prices. He said U.S. production has risen in recent years by “more than all of Iranian production” so there is adequate capacity should there be a need for oil supplies. He said the link between oil prices and the U.S. economy has diminished as American oil production has increased.
And, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said in a statement that his country would work with other oil producers “to ensure adequate supplies are available to consumers while ensuring the global oil market does not go out of balance.”
Iran hawks on Capitol Hill like Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who had long lobbied for the step, applauded the end of oil waivers.
“This decision will deprive the ayatollahs of billions of dollars that they would have spent undermining the security of the United States and our allies, building up Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and financing global terrorism,” he said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, praised the administration for further tightening sanctions enforcement on Iran, which the Jewish state regards as an existential threat. He said the move “is of great importance for increasing pressure on the Iranian terrorist regime.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Who Drugged and Sexually Abused Minors Sentenced to 53 Years to Life

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Arrest Four in Narcotics Bust After Five-Month Investigation

DON'T MISS

Overturned Big Rig Backs Up Highway 99 Traffic in Fresno

DON'T MISS

California Reveals 5th State Prison to Close Because of Falling Inmate Population

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Search for Robbery Suspect Near Blackstone Avenue

DON'T MISS

Trump Says US Will Charge Tariff of About 100% on Semiconductor Imports

DON'T MISS

Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor Race

DON'T MISS

Apple Commits Additional $100 Billion to US Investments

DON'T MISS

Fresno Taken Off Federal Sanctuary City List After DHS Reversal

DON'T MISS

Trita Parsi Shares Ex-Green Beret’s Account of Deadly Gaza Aid Sites

UP NEXT

Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor Race

UP NEXT

Apple Commits Additional $100 Billion to US Investments

UP NEXT

US Army Sergeant Suspected of Shooting, Wounding Five Fellow Soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia

UP NEXT

Switzerland Facing 39% US Tariff as President Leaves Washington Empty-Handed

UP NEXT

Five US Soldiers Shot at Georgia Base, Shooter in Custody

UP NEXT

VP Vance to Host Dinner to Discuss Jeffrey Epstein Fallout

UP NEXT

Trump Order Imposes Additional 25% Tariff on Goods From India

UP NEXT

Trump Suggests Vance Is His Likely Heir Apparent in 2028

UP NEXT

Trump to Host Armenia, Azerbaijan Leaders for Peace Talks on Friday, US Official Says

UP NEXT

Trump Declines to Say if He Supports or Opposes Potential Gaza Takeover by Israel

California Reveals 5th State Prison to Close Because of Falling Inmate Population

12 hours ago

Fresno Police Search for Robbery Suspect Near Blackstone Avenue

12 hours ago

Trump Says US Will Charge Tariff of About 100% on Semiconductor Imports

13 hours ago

Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor Race

13 hours ago

Apple Commits Additional $100 Billion to US Investments

13 hours ago

Fresno Taken Off Federal Sanctuary City List After DHS Reversal

13 hours ago

Trita Parsi Shares Ex-Green Beret’s Account of Deadly Gaza Aid Sites

14 hours ago

First Date Turns Into DUI High-Speed Pursuit on Highway 99, CHP Fresno Says

14 hours ago

Tulare Co. Sends 86 to Drug Treatment Under Prop 36. Fresno Sends Only 3

14 hours ago

US Army Sergeant Suspected of Shooting, Wounding Five Fellow Soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia

14 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Drugged and Sexually Abused Minors Sentenced to 53 Years to Life

A Fresno man was sentenced Wednesday to 53 years to life in state prison for committing lewd acts involving three minors over a six-year spa...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Drugged and Sexually Abused Minors Sentenced to 53 Years to Life

Clovis Police arrested Jeremiah Gonzalez (top left), 25, Jonathan Simmavong (bottom left), 27, both of Clovis, Gursimran Mahal (top right), 25, and Zackary Torres, 26, both of Fresno, in a narcotics investigation that led to the seizure of drugs, a firearm, and illegal vape products. (Clovis PD)
12 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Four in Narcotics Bust After Five-Month Investigation

An overturned big rig on Highway 99 at Clinton Avenue caused major traffic backups in both directions Wednesday, August 6, 2025, afternoon in Fresno. (Fresno County SO)
12 hours ago

Overturned Big Rig Backs Up Highway 99 Traffic in Fresno

12 hours ago

California Reveals 5th State Prison to Close Because of Falling Inmate Population

Fresno police are searching for a suspect who robbed a person near Blackstone and Garland avenues and fled in a white Chevrolet sedan. (Fresno PD)
12 hours ago

Fresno Police Search for Robbery Suspect Near Blackstone Avenue

Semiconductor chips are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken February 25, 2022. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Trump Says US Will Charge Tariff of About 100% on Semiconductor Imports

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters at the White House in Washington, July 30, 2025. The conversation between President Trump and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo came at a time when Cuomo was publicly pushing Mayor Eric Adams and other rivals to drop out of the race in hopes of consolidating the support of voters who oppose the frontrunner, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
13 hours ago

Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor Race

13 hours ago

Apple Commits Additional $100 Billion to US Investments

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend