Brussels - The European Union agreed to suspend some economic sanctions against Iran on Monday as part of a ground-breaking nuclear deal under which Tehran has scaled back its nuclear work, diplomats said.
The decision, which eases restrictions on trade in petrochemicals and precious metals and on the provision of insurance for oil shipments, among other measures, was expected to go into effect later in the day.
The United States Treasury Department said that now that Iran has fulfilled its initial nuclear commitments under the deal, "the administration has taken the necessary steps to pause efforts to further reduce Iranian crude oil exports."
This will allow the six current customers of Iranian oil to maintain their purchases at current reduced levels for the six-month duration of an interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, the Treasury Department said.
The United States also took steps to suspend sanctions on non-US people engaged in transactions related to Iran's petrochemical exports, as well as certain trade in gold and precious metals with Iran and provision of goods and services to Iran's automotive sector.