Eight countries — including India, South Korea, Japan and China, among the world’s largest importers of Iranian oil — were granted six-month waivers. The European Union did not receive an exemption.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced on Friday that it was exempting eight countries from bruising sanctions that the United States was reimposing against Iran, undercutting its pledge to economically punish Tehran’s regional aggressions while widening a profound rift with European allies.
Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, did not identify the eight countries that were being granted six-month waivers, but a senior official confirmed that they include India, South Korea, Japan and China — among the world’s largest importers of Iranian oil.
Mr. Pompeo said the European Union, which recently announced the creation of an economic channel to continue financial dealings with Iran, was not among those receiving waivers.
The sanctions were promised in May, when President Trump announced that the United States was withdrawing from a 2015 deal with world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
They were affirmed on Friday, the eve of a long-announced Nov. 5 deadline for nations to cease importing Iranian goods or face financial penalties, and days before crucial midterm elections in which the Trump administration is seeking to galvanize Republicans who support his hard-nosed foreign policy.
Mr. Pompeo said the waivers were granted to the eight countries “only because they have demonstrated significant reductions in their crude oil and cooperation on many other fronts.” He said two of the eight were expected to end their imports of Iranian oil “within weeks,” and all must reapply for extended exemptions at the end of six months.
South Korea and China are crucial to keeping pressure on North Korea to eliminate its nuclear weapons — another top Trump administration priority. Once South Korea was exempted, Mr. Trump could not deny the demands of Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, whom the president has often described as the Asian leader with whom he has the greatest rapport.
And India, like China, will most likely never stop importing Iranian oil; the waivers help “avoid what would potentially be a very painful confrontation,” said Peter Harrell, a sanctions expert during the Obama administration. He said the waivers have also helped keep oil prices in check ahead of Tuesday’s elections.
“Whatever happened to maximum pressure?” United Against Nuclear Iran, an anti-Iran group led by former Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, wrote on Twitter in response to the administration’s waivers. “They caved. Big time.”
The sanctions — and dearth of exemptions for European allies — threaten to dangerously deteriorate already-strained trans-Atlantic ties. Most big European companies have left Iran in recent months ahead of the looming penalties, but European diplomats vowed on Friday to continue efforts to protect legitimate trade with Tehran.
“Our collective resolve to complete this work is unwavering,” diplomats from the European Union, Britain, France and Germany said in a statement.
