U.S. President Barack Obama gave the green light on Friday for sanctions that will target Iran's oil exports in a bid to pressure it on its nuclear program.
The White House said it had determined there was enough non-Iranian oil supply worldwide to move forward with sanctions passed by Congress last year that will target financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, which channels funds involved in its oil exports.
“There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their import of Iranian oil," the White House said in a statement, pointing to estimates of demand as well as global oil inventories.
"In addition, international concerns over Iran's nuclear activities and recent steps taken to reduce the amount of Iranian crude oil and petroleum product imports are contributing to an increased demand for non-Iranian crude oil," the statement said.
The U.S. does not import Iranian oil under previous sanctions, but the move will force other countries that do trade with Iran to give up that trade or face sanctions.
The new sanctions are set to go into place June 28.

By Natasha Mozgovaya and DPA

Haaretz.com