US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has left the door open to granting waivers to major buyers of Iranian oil after US sanctions on the Islamic Republic take effect in November, writes Nassir Shirkhani.

"There will be a handful of countries that come to the United States and ask for relief from that," Pompeo said during a visit to the United Arab Emirates. "We’ll consider it."

Pompeo's comments make him the first senior US official to publicly float the idea that the US could offer some countries relief from aggressive sanctions on Iranian oil exports, which are set to come into force on 4 November.

Meanwhile, Iran Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri acknowledged the looming tough sanctions would hurt the economy, but promised to “sell as much oil as we can” and protect banking.

“America seeks to reduce Iran’s oil sales, our vital source of income, to zero. It would be a mistake to think the US economic war against Iran will have no impact," Jahangiri said.

“We will make Americans understand this year that they cannot stop Iranian oil sales.”

In May, US President Donald Trump tore up an international accord under which Iran had agreed to limit its nuclear development in exchange for sanctions relief.

He has promised to target the reduction of Iranian oil exports to zero by introducing unprecedented tough sanctions over its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons and development of ballistic missiles.

On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Germany urged Berlin to block an Iranian bid to withdraw large sums of cash from bank accounts in a German-Iranian bank. Jahangiri said Iran’s Foreign Ministry and Central Bank had taken measures to facilitate Iran’s banking operations despite the sanctions, but did not elaborate.

Several key US allies import significant amounts of Iranian oil, including Japan, South Korea and Turkey. China, which remains in the 2015 nuclear deal, is the largest importer.

The threat of US sanctions has prompted concerns of a reduced global oil supply, causing prices to spike in recent weeks. The Iranian national currency has also collapsed as the economy deteriorates amid fears of mounting foreign exchange shortages.

The US has pressed its Gulf Arab allies, including Saudi Arabia, to increase oil production to compensate for falling Iranian sales.

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Pompeo leaves US door open for Iran oil