No pressure from US on import of oil from Iran: Govt

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S Jaipal Reddy said during Question Hour that there was no pressure from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent visit here that India should not import oil from Iran.

"Government of India is perfectly free to take a decision (on this issue)....We do not take note of sanctions by other countries," Reddy said, adding India only respects sanctions imposed by the UN against some countries on certain issues.

He assured the House that India's sovereignty will never be compromised on the issue of importing oil from Iran. "So far as our sovereignty is concerned, we can assure that we will never allow any pressure," Reddy said.

To another question, he maintained that India has been importing oil from Iran and will continue to do so.

"There will be less oil or more oil imported from Iran depending on demand. The oil companies will decide that. These things are not monitored by the government but by the companies," he said.

Clinton had suggested that India should minimise oil import from Iran to put pressure on that country to curb its nuclear programme.