(Wall Street Journal) Ilan Berman - As Western countries have weaned themselves off of Iranian oil, today four Asian countries - China, India, South Korea and Japan - cumulatively buy more than half of Iran's total energy exports. Earlier this year, these nations slashed their imports significantly. But today there are signs that they are coming back to the Iranian marketplace. After a temporary dip in oil imports earlier this year (largely due to a pricing dispute), Beijing has reportedly resumed being Tehran's largest customer. China is now importing more than 100,000 barrels a day more from Iran than it did in 2011. Tokyo this month doubled the quantity of oil it is importing from Iran. For Western sanctions to truly stand a chance of altering Iran's behavior, Asia's economies must be forced to back away from their business with the Islamic Republic. The writer is vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington.
2012-08-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive