Japan to resume Iranian oil imports

TOKYO, Jan 22 (KUNA) -- Japan is preparing to receive its first shipments of oil from Iran since an embargo was announced last year, public broadcaster NHK reported.
Iran's central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemati said Monday that Japan has begun conducting operations so that the imports can resume, following similar moves by China and South Korea.
The Donald Trump administration rolled out the economic sanctions on Iran in November covering crude oil. But Washington granted Japan and seven other countries a 180-day waiver for Iran oil imports to May this year.
Major Japanese oil wholesaler Showa Shell Sekiyu is already preparing to transport the crude, while Japan's largest oil wholesaler, JXTG Holdings is expected soon to follow suit, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government plans to negotiate with the US over extending the temporary exemption, so that its Iranian oil imports can continue flowing.
Japan, the world's third-biggest oil importer, has traditionally been on friendly ties with Iran, which accounts for about 5 percent of Japan's total crude oil imports. Trump announced last May that his country will pull out of the international nuclear agreement with Iran and reinstate its sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
The accord, struck by Iran, the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia in 2015, eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country curbing its nuclear program. (end) mk.gta