Japanese Enterprises Prepare to Wind Down Iran Oil Imports - Reports

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Japanese oil distributors are set to halt crude imports from Iran as the US government looks unlikely to give them a sanctions waiver, local media said.

Imports are expected to stop in October after the United States announced in May it would bring back sanctions against Tehran by early November, according to the Nikkei newspaper.

Japan is considering turning to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for supplies. As of now, Iran is the island nation’s sixth oil importer.

Washington told foreign companies earlier they should wind down operations in Iran or face restrictions by the United States. An official from the Japanese Economy and Trade Ministry told the paper getting an exemption was unlikely.

A senior State Department official said earlier Japan had already been asked to completely halt its oil imports from Iran.

In early May, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be pulling out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal. In addition, Trump decided to reinstate wide-ranging sanctions on Iran, previously lifted under the agreement in exchange for Tehran maintaining the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.