The U.S
By Bernard Moerdler,
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products of Iranian origin, a core economic element of the memorandum of understanding signed last week. The authorization, designated General License X, runs through 12:01 a.m. eastern time on August 21, 2026, and covers transactions that had been prohibited under existing U.S. sanctions, including those involving previously blocked vessels and services such as docking, crewing, insurance, and salvage.
The license also authorizes the importation into the United States of Iranian-origin crude oil and petroleum products where necessary to the sale or offloading of cargoes it covers, and permits payments owed to Iran or the Iranian government for those purchases to be made in U.S. dollars. It does not authorize transactions involving North Korea, Cuba, or Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine, or activities prohibited under other executive orders not referenced in the license. The measure significantly broadens an earlier, narrower license OFAC issued in March, which had authorized only Iranian oil already loaded on vessels and expired in April. Treasury described that earlier round of energy licensing as an effort to keep global energy prices down amid the disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Topics: Iran, Strait of Hormuz
Reported by Bernard Moerdler for Bernie News Network. See our editorial standards and corrections policy.