Taiwan Agrees to Cut Iran Oil Imports

Taiwan has agreed to examine the possibility of cutting its oil imports from Iran in response to US calls to join the international sanctions regime aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program.

The US and the EU have been trying to persuade a list of countries – China, India, Japan, South Korea amongst them – to sign on to their ramped up-sanctions regime, which calls for an end to oil importing contracts with Iran by July 1, and a freezing of Iran Central Bank’s assets.

According to a Taiwanese national security official, his country would agree to a gradual decrease of crude oil imports from Iran, as Iran is one of Taiwan’s top sources of crude oil, at 6.8% of total imports.