Trump Temporarily Lifts Sanctions On Iranian Oil After Pledge To Allow Nuclear Inspectors Into The Country
President Donald Trump temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil Monday after Iran pledged to open the Strait of Hormuz and allow nuclear inspectors into the country.
Read more America’s Biggest Beverage Companies Take A Step In MAHA’s Direction
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a General License X to Iran on Monday, “authorizing the Production, Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil, Petrochemical Products, and Petroleum Products of Iranian-Origin through August 21, 2026,” according to the document. The deal will allow Iran to sell crude oil on the open market for the first time since 2018, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The authorization is part of Trump’s Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), an agreement that gives the U.S. and Iran a 60-day window to negotiate a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. The MOU was electronically signed Sunday.
Department of Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent announced the removal of sanctions, saying the move would further Trump’s goal of making the world “safer” and “more prosperous.” (RELATED: Vance Fires Back At Israeli Cabinet Members Targeting Trump Over Iran Deal)
“In line with the ongoing productive talks in Switzerland, Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country,” Bessent posted on X.
“As part of the framework, Treasury has issued a temporary 60-day general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil,” he added.
Vice President JD Vance defended the imminent decision to reporters in a press briefing Thursday, arguing that neither the U.S. nor Iran viewed it as a “major concession.”
“What prevented them from selling oil was not the sanctions. They were selling plenty of oil without any discount because the sanctions were just fundamentally ineffective at that point,” Vance said.
Read more Linda Cohn Plans To Retire From ESPN After 34 Years
“The idea that selling a few million dollars’ worth of barrels, or a few million dollars’ worth of oil, is going to fundamentally transform the Iranian economy — that’s just not true,” he added. He assured reporters that the administration could “slap everything right back on” if Iran did not abide by the expected deal.
Critics have argued the removal of sanctions helps Iran financially while failing to benefit the United States. Fox News commentator Mark Levin posted June 18 on X arguing the U.S. should build “our oil reserves” instead of “building up their oil industry.”
A senior Trump administration official argued that oil sanctions on Iran had previously helped China, in a background briefing the Daily Caller recently attended. China has been the main purchaser of Iranian oil in recent years, according to Reuters.
“What we were doing with the sanctions on Iranian oil is that we were actually giving China a massive discount on the purchases of petroleum,” the official said.
“Regardless of whether we had had ethnic fury, regardless of whether we lift a single other sanction, the President, United States, and the entire team agreed that it’s absurd to sanction Iranian oil in such a way that they are still allowed to sell that oil. We just give China a big fat discount, we stop that process, and of course it’s part of the broader agreement,” the official added.
Iran held 208.6 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in 2025, ranking third in the world with 11.8% of the world’s total oil reserves.
Post Comment