According to Brian Hook, the US special representative for Iran, the United States is not looking to grant more temporary waivers for Iranian oil imports.

The official noted that only five out of eight countries that secured initial US six-month waivers to buy oil from Iran took advantage of these preferences.

The US envoy met with Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih in December before the OPEC+ summit. The meeting related to oil production volumes, as well as to the supply of oil from Iran. The US official declined to specify a date for the complete cessation of oil exports from the Islamic Republic.

Restrictions on the oil export from Iran were introduced in November 2018. The US gave six-month waivers to India, China, South Korea, Japan, Greece, Italy, Turkey and Taiwan. To date, total imports of Iranian oil is estimated at 1.25 million bpd. China bought an average of 360 thousand bpd, India - 300 thousand bpd, South Korea - 200 thousand bpd, Japan - 75 thousand bpd, Turkey - 137 thousand bpd, and Italy obtained 109 thousand bpd of Iranian oil. Greece and Taiwan imported 52 thousand bpd and 18 thousand bpd, respectively.