Trump Says Oil Sanctions Against Iran Will Be Gradual

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, stated on Monday, November 5, that to prevent a rise in global oil prices due to the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran, Washington is looking to implement oil sanctions on Tehran gradually. According to the Associated Press, Trump told reporters: "We have imposed the toughest sanctions ever, but regarding oil, we want to move a bit slower because we do not want global oil prices to rise." He added: "This is not because of Iran... I could have brought Iranian oil exports to zero immediately, but that would shock the market. I am not looking for prices to increase." The U.S. President emphasized: "I do not want to cause an increase in oil prices. As you have noticed, oil prices are fundamentally decreasing, despite the fact that they have lost half of their capacity." U.S. officials announced on Monday, November 5, the return of all sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industry as well as its shipping sector. However, it was announced that eight countries: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece, and Taiwan will be temporarily exempt from these sanctions. Donald Trump issued the order to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA, on May 8 of this year, and ordered the return of all sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. These sanctions have been implemented in two phases. U.S. officials had stated at the time of the withdrawal from the JCPOA that they would give Iran's customers until mid-November to completely stop purchasing oil from the Islamic Republic. The second phase of these sanctions, which included oil sanctions, began on Monday, November 5. In this context, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that more than 20 countries importing oil from Iran have completely stopped their imports from the country, and the supply of more than one million barrels of oil to the market has been cut off. The Secretary of State emphasized that the Iranian government has lost more than $2.5 billion in oil revenues since May (since the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA). Pompeo also mentioned that the U.S. has temporarily granted exemptions to eight countries to ensure sufficient oil supply to the market. He stressed that these exemptions were due to specific conditions in some countries and to guarantee oil supply to the market. However, he emphasized that these countries had significantly reduced their crude oil imports from Iran over the past six months. U.S. officials state that the exemptions from U.S. sanctions for the mentioned eight countries will last for 180 days. Previously, during the last round of sanctions from 2012 to 2015, the U.S. also gave several countries that purchased oil from Iran a chance to reduce their oil purchases every six months. Iran has condemned U.S. sanctions, and the country's permanent representative to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General calling for collective action by the UN and members of the international community to counter U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic.