US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the United States will not extend the general license allowing limited transactions involving Russian and Iranian oil, citing ongoing geopolitical tensions, as reported by ANI.
India, the main user of these exemptions, has benefited greatly from this.
“We are not going to renew the general license for Russian oil and Iranian oil. That was the oil that was on the water before March 11. All that was used,” Bessent said during a media briefing.
The United States announced on Wednesday that it is tightening sanctions against Iran’s oil industry as Tehran continues to close the Strait of Hormuz as part of the Middle East war.
The new penalty targets oil shipping infrastructure by imposing sanctions on more than two dozen people, companies and ships that operate in oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani’s network, the finance ministry said.
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“The Treasury Department is moving aggressively with ‘Economic Fury’ by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family who seek to profit at the expense of the Iranian people,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, referring to the financial coercion campaign against Iran.
Shamkhani is the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, both of whom were killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli strikes and the start of the Middle East war.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas supplies, in response to the ongoing US-Israeli military campaign. In return, the United States launched a naval blockade targeting Iranian ports.
The US also alleges that the Shamkhani network, which operates across Iran and the United Arab Emirates, evades sanctions by using a network of ostensibly legitimate consulting and shipping firms to manage its fleet.
Trump says Iran wants a deal
Trump has said Iran is willing to negotiate a deal even as the ongoing conflict continues to unsettle global markets and disrupt the economy.
The war severely affected shipping routes and damaged military and civilian infrastructure throughout the region.
Despite the turmoil, oil prices edged lower on hopes of a possible resolution, while U.S. stock markets topped their January highs on Wednesday.
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“I think they want to make a deal very badly,” US President Donald Trump said in an interview on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” on Wednesday.
But the fragile truce remains shaky, with the United States continuing its naval blockade and threatening to cut Iran’s key economic lifelines.
In a social media post, Trump also claimed China had agreed not to supply Iran with weapons, amid reports suggesting Beijing was considering such transfers.
But the U.S. government has long accused China of supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program by providing industrial dual-use components that can aid missile production.
(With input from agencies)
