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The government has said simply that India needs the Iranian crude, noting that its aging refineries are configured for Iranian crude, and retrofitting them would be costly. On Thursday, India along with its BRICS bloc partners China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa said they believed negotiations were the best way to resolve worries over Iran's nuclear program, while also supporting "Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy." The U.S. sanctions are set to take effect on June 28. A European oil embargo, approved in January, starts in July. Put together, Obama administration officials contend Iran is about to face its most severe economic pressure ever. The United States imports no oil from Iran. The main importers of Iranian oil that have not received exemptions from the U.S. are China, India, Turkey, South Africa and South Korea. The administration would be loath to hit a close friend like South Korea or India, or a NATO ally like Turkey, with sanctions, and is working with those countries to reduce their imports. Turkey announced Friday it was shrinking oil imports from Iran by 20 percent, apparently bowing to pressure from the United States and the sanctions threat.
U.S. officials hope ratcheting up economic pressure will both push Iran to abandon its nuclear program and convince Israel to give sanctions time to take hold before pursuing a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The U.S. and allies believe that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb; Iran denies that.
[Associated
Press;
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