Expediting the formation of a mechanism to withstand US sanctions, India and Iran have discussed various options, including rupee-rial trade, so that bilateral trade between the two countries continues without a blip.
Iran is India's third-largest oil supplier. India's private, as well as public sector, oil refiners are heavily dependent on cheap Iranian crude. Indian refiners bought a record 27.2 million tons of Iranian crude during the last financial year, which ended in March 2018, a whopping 114 percent increase over the previous year.
President Donald Trump said in early May that the United States would walk away from an international nuclear deal with Iran and impose renewed US economic sanctions on Tehran, Economic Times quoted an informed source as saying.
Some sanctions take effect after a 90-day “wind-down” period ending on Aug. 6, and the rest, notably affecting the petroleum sector, after a 180-day period ending on Nov. 4.
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