The US will not renew a 30-day waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil at sea that expires this week, and quietly let a similar waiver on sanctions on Russian oil expire over the weekend, two administration officials told Reuters yesterday, as the US imposes a blockade on shipments from Iranian ports.
Yesterday’s move signals that ‘Treasury is going full force on Economic Fury’ on Iran, an apparent reference to Operation Epic Fury, the US-led military campaign against the country, one of the officials said. The Trump administration has long said it is applying ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran over its nuclear programme and support for militants across the Middle East, though sanctioned oil has continued to reach China.
The waiver, which the Treasury Department issued on March 20, allowed some 140 million barrels of oil to reach global markets and helped relieve pressure on energy supply during the war on Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month. The waiver is set to expire on Sunday. The US did not renew the waiver on Russian oil at sea which expired on Saturday, the sources said.
The moves signal an end to the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to use the sanctions waivers to free up more oil supplies and lower global energy prices that have spiked since the start of the US and Israeli war against Iran.
US legislators from both political parties had slammed the administration saying the sanctions waivers stood to help the economies of Iran, while it was at war with the US, and of Russia as it was at war with Ukraine.
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