U.S. renews waivers on Iran sanctions for China, India, othersJune 6, 2013 - 13:18 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. State Department on Wednesday, June 5 renewed six-month waivers on Iran sanctions for China, India and seven other economies in exchange for their agreeing to reduce purchases of oil from Iran, Reuters said. The waivers, which the State Department calls exceptions, mean that financial institutions in the consumer countries do not risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system for the next six months. Sanctions are one of Washington's main strategies to choke funding to Iran's nuclear program, which Western countries suspect seeks to develop the ability to make weapons. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes. State Department and Treasury officials have pushed consumer countries to "significantly reduce" their purchases of Iranian oil without defining the volumes that they want to be cut. U.S. and EU sanctions have cut Iran's oil exports by about half since they went into force last year, helping to cut the value of the rial, the country's currency, and pushing up inflation. This May the sanctions drove the Islamic Republic's crude exports to their lowest level in decades, according to industry sources and tanker tracking data. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |