Japan Says No To US On Iranian Oil Imports

Tehran, Dec 20, IRNA – Japan will not stop imports of oil from Iran, Japan’s Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said on Monday. Gemba made the remarks during a visit to Washington. According to dispatches, after talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that focused mostly on North Korea, Japan’s Foreign Minister added that” I conveyed my view that there is a danger of causing damage to the entire global economy if the imports of Iranian crude oil would stop.' Japan, which is Iran's second-largest oil export partner after China and about 10 percent of its total oil imports come from Iran is among the US allies that sanctions can affect the most. Other countries share similar concerns, such as South Korea--which imports about 10 percent of its oil imports from Iran--Greece, Italy, Spain and other European countries. China is the largest importer of Iranian oil. China has been always critical of imposing any sanctions on Iran. The new US sanctions, which were included in an annual US defense authorization bill, limit dollar-based transactions between U.S. financial institutions and those in foreign countries, including Japan, which engage in transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. The sanctions will come into effect six months after U.S. President Barack Obama signs the bill into law. Although the US administration at first supported embargos on CBI but later, it disagreed saying that it would cause a spike in oil prices, giving Tehran a windfall in oil sales, adding that it would be challenging for the whole international economy and US allies. The United States, the Zionist regime and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. As a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran says it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes. In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.