Statement by Secretary Clinton Regarding Significant Reductions of Iranian Crude Oil Purchases

June 11, 2012

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Today I have made the determination that seven economies—India, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan--have all significantly reduced their volume of crude oil purchases from Iran.  They join the 11 countries for which I made this determination in March.  As a result, I will report to the Congress that sanctions pursuant to Section 1245(d)(1) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 will not apply to their financial institutions for a potentially renewable period of 180 days.

We have implemented these sanctions to support our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to encourage Iran to comply with its international obligations.  Today’s announcement underscores the success of our sanctions implementation.  By reducing Iran’s oil sales, we are sending a decisive message to Iran’s leaders:  until they take concrete actions to satisfy the concerns of the international community, they will continue to face increasing isolation and pressure.

The United States remains committed to a dual-track policy that offers Iran the chance to engage seriously with the international community to resolve our concerns over its nuclear program through negotiations with the P5+1.  Iran has the ability to address these concerns by taking concrete steps during the next round of talks in Moscow.  I urge its leaders to do so.