Reacting to US President Donald Trump’s decision to end sanctions waivers for nations importing Iranian, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said on Monday evening that Tehran did not assume any value for the waivers right from the beginning.
"However, given the negative effects of these sanctions and the possibility of increasing their negative impact in the wake of non-renewal of the exemptions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today has been continuously communicating with relevant domestic institutions, and has held intensive consultations with many foreign partners, including European partners as well as neighboring countries,” he said.
The spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the outcome of these contacts and consultations with domestic and foreign sources had been communicated to the highest decision-making authorities of the country, and a prompt decision on this matter would be taken and announced soon.
The Trump administration has told five nations, including allies Japan, South Korea and Turkey, that they will no longer be exempt from U.S. sanctions if they continue to import oil from Iran, officials said Sunday.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday that the administration would not renew sanctions waivers for the five countries when they expire on May 2. The others are China and India.