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A senior energy analyst and former Iranian deputy oil minister said Washington will be forced to grant waivers to some countries allowing them to continue importing Iranian crude when sanctions snapback in November.

“Oil prices will rise if the US does not grant waivers to the countries purchasing Iranian oil,” Seyed Mehdi Hosseini told IRNA on August 16.

Washington must do that or face the global consequences, he added.

Noting that some countries in Europe and the region are traditional consumers of Iranian crude and Iran can retain them despite the returning sanctions, the analyst said Saudi Arabia cannot fill the gap and that there will be no alternative to Iran’s oil.

On June 27, a senior US State Department official said the United States had told countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November and is unlikely to offer any exemptions.

The US re-imposed stiff economic sanctions on Iran on Monday, ratcheting up pressure on the Islamic Republic despite statements of deep dismay from European allies, three months after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

A first set of re-imposed US sanctions affect financial transactions that involve US dollars, Iran’s automotive sector, the purchase of commercial planes and metals, including gold.

A second batch of US sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector and central bank are to be re-imposed in early November.