Business Day
*Brics not bound by unilateral sanctions -- SA**Matthias Williams, Reuters, New Delhi, for Business Day, Johannesburg, 29 March 2012 *
The Brics group of countries has broadly agreed they are not bound by "unilateral" sanctions on Iran, measures that threaten higher global oil prices and could result in supply shortages, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said yesterday.
The Brics group of emerging world powerhouses -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and SA -- are meeting in New Delhi amid Western pressure to cut crude imports as part of sanctions designed to halt Tehran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons.
China and India are the biggest buyers of Iran's crude, which they need to help sustain economic growth in two of the world's fastest-growing major economies. Trade ministers of both nations said yesterday they would maintain economic ties with Tehran, despite pressure from Washington.
China disapproves of tougher western sanctions on Tehran but its refiners have cut purchases of Iranian crude, albeit because of a pricing dispute.
India too has said it will not abide by unilateral measures while privately telling oil companies to cut purchases by at least 15%, which they have done.
For its part, SA has cut its dependence on buying oil from Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, and is "pro-actively" trying to diversify its purchases, Mr Davies said on the sidelines of the summit.
"I think that we all broadly agree with the proposal, the terminology that was made, that if there are United Nations Security Council sanctions then we are all bound by that, but if there are sanctions that are imposed by other countries unilaterally, they shouldn't have to apply to us," Mr Davies said.
"But I think the problem is that we've also got the power relations to contend with, and that whether we like it or not the decision will impact on us in the form of higher oil prices and possibly even shortages of supply. So these are all going to be big challenges that we are going to face."
The US has exempted Japan and 10 European nations because they have slashed purchases. /Reuters/
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