US purchases to undermines sanctions
02 February, 2013
KABUL: America's attempts to cripple Iran through economic sanctions may have been undermined by, you guessed it, America. Yesterday SIGAR, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, released a report showing that the U.S. spent nearly $1.1 billion to import fuel for Afghanistan's National Army (ANA) between 2007 and 2012. Where the fuel came from is anyone's guess. In 1995 President Clinton signed an executive order prohibiting American involvement with petroleum development in Iran. Afghanistan, however, is largely dependent upon imports for meeting the majority of its energy needs and, while accurate reports of Afghanistan oil imports vary, estimates suggest that up to one-half of Afghanistan fuel (including all gas and oil used for motor vehicles, aircraft, generators, and cooking) comes from Iran. The SIGAR report shows that until late 2012, the U.S. did not require fuel vendors, usually Afghanistan-owned companies, to provide information on their sources or checked to see if they followed U.S. sanctions. End.
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