US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make the announcement on Monday morning local time, the Washington Post newspaper specified. Pompeo will tell journalists that, starting May 2, the Department of State will no longer grant any sanctions waivers enabling countries importing Iranian oil to continue doing so.
US President Donald Trump announced last May Washington's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. This triggered the re-imposition of sanctions against Iran, previously lifted under the agreement. Two rounds of sanctions have been reintroduced since then, including large-scale restrictions covering oil exports from Iran to other countries.
In early November 2018, Washington granted six-month waivers from oil sanctions on Tehran, to eight countries dependent on Iranian energy imports — Greece, Italy, Taiwan, China, India, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.
The United States wants all countries to eventually cut their oil imports from Iran to zero, which is likely to have a significant impact on the country, where oil exports serve as one of main sources of revenue for the state.
