UPDATE 1-U.S. says countries buying Iranian oil will be subject to sanctions

The United States will sanction any country which buys oil from Iran after the expiration of waivers on May 2, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook said on Thursday.

Sanctions would be imposed "even if a country had not met its previously-negotiated purchase caps," Hook said in a statement. "Our firm policy is to completely zero out purchases of Iranian oil. Period." The Wall Street Journal reported earlier on Thursday that countries like China and India which were issued waivers in November to buy Iranian could continue the purchases after May 2 until they reached a negotiated cap. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Eric Beech and Richard Chang)