US Studying Potential Iran Sanction Waivers

"There are still a number of decisions pending before the November 4th deadline that we gotta make about waivers, potential waivers," Pompeo told a news conference on Friday, AFP reported.

Washington wants all countries to halt oil imports from Iran before November 4 if they want to avoid US penalties. Certain waivers have not been excluded, however, notably for India which depends heavily on Iranian petroleum.

Responding to a question, Pompeo said he did not know if sanctions would hit managers of Swift, the international financial messaging system, if they continue to deal with Iran.

"Come November 4th, there will be a fundamentally different set of rules" regarding "anyone who deems it necessary to engage in economic activity with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a big important day," Pompeo said.

On May 8, the US president pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).

Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord. 

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