US unimpressed as India cuts Iran oil imports
May 15, 2012  14:25

The United States is not impressed with India's efforts to cut its oil imports from Iran, a top US diplomat said on Tuesday, throwing into doubt whether New Delhi would be given a waiver from US financial sanctions before a June deadline.

 

As a major buyer of Iranian crude, India is crucial to US efforts to squeeze Iran's economy until it agrees to curb its nuclear program, which the United States and other Western nations suspect is a cover to build atomic weapons.

 

Succumbing to the US pressure, India has decided to cut crude oil import from Iran by over 11 per cent this fiscal to 15.5 million tons.

 

India, which imports 80 per cent of its crude oil and relies on Tehran for 12 per cent of those imports, shipped 18.50 million tons of oil from Iran in 2011-12, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas RPN Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. This decision comes against the backdrop of intense US pressure on India to cut oil import from Iran.

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES