South Korean official says waiver granted on oil imports and financial transactions with Iran’s sanctioned central bank.
South Korea has been granted a waiver from US sanctions on Iranian oil, a government official said on Monday.
South Korea, one of Asia’s biggest buyers of Iranian oil, last week asked the US for « maximum flexibility » after some of its construction firms cancelled energy-related contracts in the Islamic Republic because of financing difficulties.
The United States said on Friday it would temporarily allow eight importers to keep buying Iranian oil after it reimposed sanctions on the country’s crude flows from Monday, aiming to force Iran to curb its nuclear missile and regional activities.
Under US law, exceptions can be granted for up to 180 days.
« Petrochemicals are key to our economy, and we stressed that if we’re hit by the Iran sanctions, it would pose grave challenges to our whole economy, » the official said, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.
