South Korea’s crude imports from Iran have increased 7.5 percent in April 2013 compared to a month ago despite the US-led unilateral embargoes against the Islamic Republic's oil and financial sectors.

South Korea’s crude imports from Iran have increased 7.5 percent in April 2013 compared to a month ago despite the US-led unilateral embargoes against the Islamic Republic's oil and financial sectors.


South Korea imported 4.18 million barrels of Iranian crude oil in April, equivalent to 139,400 barrels per day (bpd), Reuters reported citing the latest official data on Wednesday.

Earlier in January, statistics by Korea Customs Service indicated that Seoul bought 793,361 metric tons, or 188,000 bpd, of crude oil from Iran in December 2012 which showed a 24-percent rise compared with the 639,281 tons in the corresponding period a year earlier.

South Korea halted crude imports from Iran in August and September 2012 after its refiners lost insurance coverage on ships because of the illegal sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union against Iran.

However, Iran responded by using state-owned tankers to carry cargoes, a move that would allow South Korea to receive crude shipments without concerns over insurance guarantees.

At the beginning of 2012, the US and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil, extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.

The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran strongly rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

News ID 184807