Trump administration temporarily lifts sanctions on Iranian oil at sea amid soaring prices

The U.S. Treasury has authorized the purchase of Iranian oil that’s already at sea, exempting buyers from the tight sanctions that have restricted the country’s oil industry for years — a move aimed at stemming soaring prices amid the U.S.’s war with Iran.

The sanctions license allows oil from Iran to be purchased if it was loaded onto a ship by 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday. The authorization lasts until April 19.

The Trump administration had telegraphed the move this week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Thursday morning Fox Business interview that “we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water,” estimating that it could free up around 140 million barrels of oil that otherwise may have gone to China.

“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days, as we continue this campaign,” Bessent said.

The move marks a temporary break with President Trump’s strategy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, which dates back to his first term and consists of heavy sanctions that make it difficult to do business with wide swaths of the Iranian economy, including its energy industry.

Last week, the U.S. also lifted sanctions on Russian oil at sea for one month. Bessent argued at the time that the measure would not financially benefit Russia because the country’s government “derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction.” 

This is a breaking story; it will be updated.