The United States on November 5, 2018 temporarily exempted eight countries, including India from the US sanctions for buying Iranian oil. 

·        While the US had previously wanted countries including India to completely halt oil purchases from Iran by November 4, it seems to have relented considering all the repercussions of the move on oil prices globally. 

·        India is the world's third-biggest oil consumer and it meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports.

·        Iran is India’s third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and meets about 10 per cent of total needs. Currently, India pays Iran in Euros using European banking channels.

·        India had previously resisted US’s call to reduce crude oil imports from Iran to zero, citing the increasing energy needs of its 1.3 billion populations.