OFAC Temporarily Lifts Certain Oil Sanctions Against Iran
On June 22, 2026, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Iran General License X, “Authorizing the Production, Delivery and Sale of Crude Oil, Petrochemical Products, and Petroleum Products of Iranian-Origin through August 21, 2026.” This general license temporarily authorizes transactions prohibited by various listed OFAC regulations and presidential Executive Orders “that are ordinarily incident and necessary to the production, sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products of Iranian origin,” including transactions blocked vessels.
Such transactions include: “transactions for the safe docking and anchoring of vessels carrying such crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products; the preservation of the health or safety of the crew of any such vessel; emergency repairs or environmental mitigation or protection activities relating to any such vessel or to such crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products held in storage; and services such as vessel management, crewing, bunkering, piloting, registration, flagging, insurance, classification, and salvage.” The license makes clear that transactions authorized by the general license also includes “the importation into the United States of crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products of Iranian origin, where such importation is ordinarily incident and necessary to the sale, delivery, or offloading of such crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products authorized by this general license.”
Iranian-origin crude oil petrochemical products, and petroleum products subject to this general license include those produced by entities sanctioned under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 560, Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 561, or the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 594. Payment for any authorized transactions may be made in U.S. dollars.
This general license requires close review by parties intending to rely on it for conducting any oil-related transactions with Iran as it notes several continuing prohibitions, including transactions covered by other Executive Orders not identified in this general license.