S. Korea halts buying of Iranian oil in June: report

SEOUL, Sept. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has bought no Iranian oil since June, a news report said Sunday, as refiners in the Asian country diversify their sources of crude oil imports due to U.S. sanctions on Iran.

"It is nearly three months that South Korea has stopped buying oil from Iran," said Kasra Nouri, director of the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum's public relations, according to the Iranian oil ministry's news agency SHANA.

Nouri said South Korea was the first country to completely halt its oil purchases from Iran after the U.S pullout of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

The move came as Washington has imposed the most biting sanctions ever on Iran. On Twitter, U.S. President Donald Trump warned last month that "anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States."

The U.S. has pressed South Korea and some other countries to halt their oil imports from Iran or face so-called secondary sanctions following the May announcement of its exit from the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

entropy@yna.co.kr
(END)