Speaking at the meeting of the Indian Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Reddy said, "We respect UN sanctions but will not honor any other sanction.”
“We have cordial relations with Iran and we continue to import oil from them,” The Economic Times quoted Reddy as saying on Monday.
Last week, Nicholas Burns, former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, said India’s decision to continue importing Iranian crude despite the recent Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic is “a slap in the face for the United States.”
During his latest visit to the US, Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai reportedly reiterated New Delhi’s decision to continue Iranian oil imports while stressing cordial relations between the two countries.
On New Year’s Eve, the US imposed new sanctions against Iran aimed at preventing other countries from importing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with its central bank. The act was followed by the EU on January 23 that also approved sanctions against Iran’s oil and financial sectors.
Washington, Tel-Aviv and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program and have used this pretext to push for four rounds of UN sanctions and a series of unilateral measures against the Islamic Republic.
Iran has refuted the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
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