Eight countries including India have been exempted from the US sanctions for buying Iranian Oil, said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday during a press conference in Washington.

The other seven countries  include China, Japan, Italy, Greece, South Korea, Taiwan and Turkey.

Pompeo said, these countries showed a significant reduction in oil purchase from the Persian Gulf country after the Trump administration reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

"Our objective is to starve the Iranian regime of the funds it uses to fund violent activity throughout the Middle East and around the world. Our ultimate goal is to encourage them to abandon their revolutionary course," told Pompeo.

The sanctions cover Iran's banking and energy sectors and reinstate penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not halt Iranian oil imports.

India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer, meets more than 80 per cent of its oil needs through imports.
Iran is its third-largest supplier after Iraq and Saudi Arabia and meets about 10 per cent of total needs.