US renews exemption from Iran sanctions for Asian, African economies

The Obama administration on Friday renewed the exemption from sanctions on Iran for a number of economies in Asia and Africa, citing their continued reductions in purchases of Iranian oil. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the immunity for China, India, South Korea and Turkey for their "additional significant reductions," as well as for Malaysia, South Africa, Singapore and Sri Lanka as the four have stopped buying crude oil from Iran. "These additional reductions were determined based on an analysis of these economies' purchasing activity over the previous six months," the top U.S. envoy said in a statement. He said he will notify the Congress of the administration's decision to exempt the financial institutions based in these economies from sanctions relating to Iran for a renewable period of 180 days, the fourth time the nine economies have qualified for this exception. The United States and the European Union have targeted Iran's oil exports, the country's lifeline, and its financial institutions since late 2011 in their efforts to force the Islamic republic to stop its uranium enrichment, an activity they suspect is being used to produce nuclear weapons. Iran reached a first-step agreement in Geneva on Sunday with the P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany, under which Tehran agreed to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for eased sanctions by the six powers. The two sides are aiming for a comprehensive deal through negotiations within the next six months