Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will hold talks with his counterpart in the Indian capital on Tuesday after New Delhi stopped purchases of Iranian oil this month in the wake of renewed US sanctions.

India was Iran’s top oil client after China, but halted imports after Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran and later withdrew waivers to eight nations, including India, which had allowed them to import some Iranian oil.

“We have regular consultations with India on various issues and I’m here to have consultations with my counterpart on most recent developments in the region as well as our bilateral relations,” he added.

“India is one of our most important partners, economic, political and regional,” Zarif told Reuters’ partner ANI on Monday ahead of talks with Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj.Washington wants to block Iran’s oil exports after US President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 accord between Iran and six world powers to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

“Unfortunately, the United States has been escalating the situation unnecessarily. We do not seek escalation but we have always defended ourselves,” Zarif said.The sanctions have more than halved Iran’s oil exports to 1 million barrels per day or less, from a peak of 2.8 million bpd last year.