South Korea is set to secure a waiver from new U.S. financial sanctions against Iran after significantly cutting its imports of Iranian crude oil this year, a senior Seoul official said Wednesday.

South Korea has been in talks with the U.S. to be exempted from the U.S.-led financial sanctions to punish Iran for its nuclear ambitions. The U.S. exempted 11 nations, including Japan and some European nations, in March from the sanctions, but South Korea was excluded from the list.

“Consultations with the U.S. government have been going well and our government expects the U.S. to announce its decision to grant a waiver to South Korea within this week,” the foreign ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.

Talks of the expected U.S. decision came after South Korea reduced its imports of Iranian crude by some 30 percent on year in the first three months of 2012, the official said. 

(Yonhap News)