US pauses sanctions on Iranian oil ‘stranded at sea’ to help curb skyrocketing energy prices
The US Treasury has temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil already loaded onto vessels, in Washington’s latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.
The authorization allows for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude oil and other petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 20, and will last through April 19, the Treasury said in a statement.
The move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had said was under consideration, follows a similar lifting of sanctions on Russian oil at sea.
Iran’s de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas normally flows, and the numerous attacks on energy infrastructure in the Middle East, have sent crude oil prices soaring.
