Afghanistan continues Iran oil purchase despite U.S. pressure

In continuation of Washington’s hostile policies on Iran and the U.S. interference in the internal affairs of other countries, the U.S. Department of State has banned Afghanistan from buying Iran’s crude oil.
According to State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, Washington has called on the Afghan government and other allies to take the U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil sector seriously.

She added that the U.S. would pursue the policy in Afghanistan to make sure that Kabul was not violating the ‘U.S. laws.’

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. The sanctions entered into force last summer.

On October 15, 2012, the EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.

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

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