State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters that while the U.S. is seeking to reduce international purchases of Iranian oil to zero, Washington is in the midst of an "internal process" to provide waivers to countries that have made "significant" reductions to their purchases of Iranian oil.
"We are determined to implement our policy of maximum pressure on Iran. That's our strategy," said Palladino. "But we are prepared to work with countries that are reducing their imports on a case by case basis." Palladino did not specify which countries are under consideration.
U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil sector that were lifted as part of an internationally-brokered nuclear deal with Tehran are set to go back into effect Nov. 5 after U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the 2015 accord in May.