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The Trump administration is prepared to impose sanctions on all countries that buy oil from Iran after a deadline in November lapses, media reports said, the new United States special representative for Iran said on Thursday.

Brian Hook, who has been appointed as a special representative and chief of a new Iran Action Group at the State Department, said the U.S. would issue waivers from sanctions to countries that have made attempts to cut down their Iranian oil purchases. India and South Korea are among Iran's top oil customers. Both countries already have started to scale back imports and are hoping to obtain waivers to buy more time to replace Iranian crude.

But China repeatedly has said it has no plans to comply with a wave of the U.S. sanctions that are due to be re-imposed on Iran's energy sector on November 4. Some oil analysts expect China to increase Iranian imports instead, potentially undermining the U.S. efforts to isolate Iran.

In a consequence to a question over China's plan to go on importing Iranian oil at a State Department briefing on Thursday, Hook refused to preclude imposing secondary sanctions on Beijing as a penalty.

By Sowmya Sangam