East Africa is beginning to feel the impact of global politics as Kenya and Tanzania stop importing oil and gas from Iran in the face of United States sanctions against countries that continue to trade with Tehran.
US President Donald Trump in May reintroduced sanctions against Iran in a bid to force the country to abandon its nuclear programme, pulling out of a 2015 deal signed by the previous administration of President Barack Obama.
Under the deal with the US, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany, Iran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of economic sanctions against it.
The US president has warned that he will push for sanctions against countries or companies that continue to trade with Iran.
“The new sanctions relate to the purchase of petroleum products, which covers products obtained from the processing of: Crude oil (including lease condensate), natural gas, and other hydrocarbon compounds,” the US Treasury said in its updated fact sheet on the Iran sanctions.
Standard and Poor’s Global, the New York-based financial information and analytics firm, reports in its latest analysis that Kenya and Tanzania have stopped imports from Iran.