US to let Iran oil sanctions waiver expire amid Hormuz blockade

The Trump administration will allow a waiver temporarily authorising the purchase of certain Iranian crude oil to expire this weekend, according to a White House official.The move comes as the US imposes a blockade on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks failed to yield a breakthrough. The waiver, which the Treasury Department published on March 20, is due to lapse on Sunday. That waiver was limited to Iranian oil and petrochemical products that were already loaded onto tankers.

The administration already let lapse a similar waiver that authorised the purchases of some otherwise-sanctioned Russian crude.
Reuters reported earlier on the decision. The US and Israeli war against Iran has set off a global energy shock and the administration has looked for ways to ease prices. But President Donald Trump’s administration had come under criticism for relaxing sanctions on oil from Iran and Russia amid the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.The White House official said the US is looking to deliver economic fury to Iran.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier Tuesday alluded to the possibility the US would pull other levers to tighten economic pressure on the regime in Tehran.

While the blockade is one way “to bring this conflict to an end,” Wright said on Fox News, “there could be other sources of economic pressure as well.”

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