The United States Treasury Department on Wednesday said the temporary sanctions waiver on the sale of Iranian oil already stranded at sea is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed.
"Financial institutions should be on notice that the department is leveraging the full range of available tools and authorities and is prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran's activities," the department said on micro-blogging platform X. The measure is part of "maintaining maximum pressure" on Tehran.
The initial sanctions waiver allowed for the delivery and sale of Iranian crude and other petroleum products loaded onto ships before March 20, and was to last through April 19.
The step was part of a series of measures launched by the Trump administration to contain skyrocketing energy prices after the Iran war started late February, including a similar easing of sanctions on Russian oil at sea. The Persian Gulf region supplies nearly a fourth of the world's total oil demand.
Earlier this week, two sanctioned supertankers laden with Iranian crude dropped anchor off Indian ports, marking what could be the first such cargoes to arrive in the country in nearly seven years, Bloomberg News reported.
India hasn't received Iranian oil since 2019, because of US sanctions. The world's third-largest crude importer has said it would buy cargoes from Iran, among other countries, to navigate the energy crisis after the US permitted the sale of Iranian oil.
According to reports, Iran is considering a short-term pause to its shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to avoid testing a US blockade and scuppering a fresh round of peace talks. The two sides are in discussions on holding another round of face-to-face negotiations for a longer-term ceasefire before the expiration of a two-week pause in hostilities that was announced April 7.
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