Iran Press/Asia: A day after US-imposed sanctions waivers on Iranian oil costumers passed over, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's statement follows comments by China, which said last month it opposed “long-armed jurisdictions implemented by the United States” and would continue “rational and legal” cooperation with Iran.
The United States told buyers to stop oil purchases by May 1 or face sanctions, ending six months of waivers that had allowed Iran’s biggest customers to import volumes.
Turkey and China are two countries so far to have expressed their desire to continue large purchases of Iranian crude.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey’s refineries were not suited to handling oil from some other countries.
“It does not seem possible for us to diversify the sources of the oil we import from Iran,” he told a news conference, adding that Washington should review its decision.
“Import of oil from third countries need current refineries shut for some time and this of course has a big cost,” Cavusoglu added.
The White House has put pressure on its strategic Persian Gulf allies including Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to export more oil to meet potential shortages arising from Iranian sanctions.
After US on 1 May ended six months' waivers on Iran’s eight biggest buyers to continue importing oil in a bid to bring Iran's oil export to zero, Iran Oil Minister, Bijan Zanganeh said at opening ceremony of the 24th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition that The United States will not be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.
US President Donald Trump said last week the United States needed the kingdom to work on a lot of deals with Washington.
On the other side, India said on Thursday it was ready to deal with the impact of US sanctions against Iran.
Turkey, which is almost completely reliant on imports to meet its energy needs, imported 912,000 tonnes of oil per month on average from Iran making up 47 percent of its total oil requirements.
Turkey last week said it was working to convince Washington to allow oil refiner Tupras to continue crude imports from Iran. 103/205
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