India’s oil imports from Iran fell 45 per cent in January to 270,500 barrels per day oil (bpd), which is below the estimated 300,000 bpd for the month as some cargoes were delayed.

The United States introduced sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s oil revenue-dependent economy in November but gave a six-month waiver to eight nations, including India, which allowed them to import some Iranian oil.

India is restricted to buying 1.25 million tonnes per month, some 300,000 bpd. January imports from Iran were 10.4 per cent lower than December, ship tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed. Iran was the seventh biggest oil supplier to India in January compared with sixth in December, and slipped from third position it held a year ago. Last month Tehran’s share in India’s overall oil imports declined to about 6 per cent from about 10 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

After abandoning the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, US President Donald Trump is trying to end Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile programme and curb its support for militants in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and other parts of West Asia.

In the first 10 months of this fiscal year that began in April, India’s oil imports from Iran rose by 14.5 per cent to 507,000 bpd as refiners boosted purchases ahead of the US sanctions drawn by discounts offered by Tehran, the data showed.