Middle East crisis live: US eases sanctions on Iranian oil as Trump claims he is mulling ‘winding down’ war; Israel hits Tehran again
March 20, 2026 in News by RBN Staff
Source: TheGuardian.com
Move to allow shipments already at sea comes amid a supply crisis and after US president says he does not ‘want to do a ceasefire’; IDF says it is attacking regime targets in Iran’s capital after strikes on Beirut
- US to send three more warships and thousands more troops, reports say
- How the Iran war has sent shocks rippling across the globe
US lifts sanctions on Iranian oil at sea
The US treasury has authorised the purchase of some Iranian oil that is already at sea, exempting buyers from its own sanctions.
The sanctions licence permits the purchase of oil from Iran if it was loaded on to a vessel by 12.01am ET (5.01am GMT) on Friday. The exemption runs until 19 April.
The licence aims to stem the surge in oil prices caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The move had been telegraphed earlier this week by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who told Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria: “In the coming days, we may un-sanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140m barrels.”
“That’s about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China,” he added.
In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 to 14 days as we continue this campaign.
