The US Treasury has cut short a sanctions waiver that briefly reopened parts of the Iranian oil trade, replacing a 60-day authorization with a 10-day wind-down that bars new purchases or loadings from July 7.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control said General License X, which had authorized transactions involving Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products and petroleum products through August 21, 2026, has been revoked and superseded by General License X1. The new license allows only activity “ordinarily incident and necessary” to wind down previously authorized transactions through 12:01 a.m. Eastern daylight time on July 17, 2026.
General License X was unusually broad. It covered production, sale, delivery and offloading of Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products and petroleum products, including certain vessel-related services, insurance, classification, salvage, bunkering, crew safety measures, and even US dollar-denominated payments for authorized purchases.
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General License X1 reverses that structure. It does not authorize new transactions, including purchases or loading of Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products or petroleum products on or after July 7. Payments to a blocked person must be made into a blocked, interest-bearing account in the US.
The practical effect is a sanctions snapback without a full commercial runway. Companies that relied on the June authorization now have until July 17 to close out eligible activity, but they cannot start fresh deals under the wind-down.
OFAC also kept exclusions for transactions involving persons located in or organized under the laws of North Korea, Cuba, covered regions of Ukraine, Crimea, or entities owned or controlled by or in joint ventures with such persons. It also excluded other transactions prohibited by sanctions authorities not referenced in the license.
The timing matters because the June license had offered a temporary legal pathway for Iranian barrels just as markets were watching regional supply risks. Reuters reported that oil prices rose more than 3% on July 7 after the US revoked the general license and after additional security concerns around tanker traffic near the Strait of Hormuz.
The June waiver had been framed by Reuters as part of a diplomatic push involving US-Iran talks and a temporary opening for Iranian oil sales through August 21. The new OFAC document does not explain the policy rationale for ending the authorization early.
The companies most exposed are not only crude buyers. The June authorization also touched the service layer around oil movements, including vessel management, crewing, bunkering, piloting, registration, flagging, insurance, classification and salvage.
Banks face a separate problem. GL X allowed certain US dollar-denominated payments for authorized purchases, but GL X1 instead says payments to blocked persons must go into blocked, interest-bearing accounts in the US.
OFAC’s official Iran sanctions page lists General License X1 under general licenses and describes it as the revocation and wind-down of the June 21, 2026 authorization for Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products and petroleum products. The same page says OFAC general licenses authorize activity that would otherwise be prohibited without requiring a specific license.
