The U.S. State Department on Wednesday renewed six-month waivers on Iran sanctions for China, India and seven other economies in exchange for their agreeing to reduce purchases of oil from Iran. "The United States and the international community stand shoulder to shoulder in maintaining pressure on the Iranian regime until it fully addresses concerns about its nuclear program," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. The waivers, which the State Department calls exceptions mean that financial institutions in the consumer countries do not risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system for the next six months. Sanctions are one of Washington's main strategies to choke funding to Iran's nuclear program, which Western countries suspect seeks to develop the ability to make weapons. Iran insists the program is for peaceful purposes. State Department and Treasury officials have pushed consumer countries to "significantly reduce" their purchases of Iranian oil without
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