The US Treasury Department issued a temporary general licence on Monday permitting the production, delivery, sale and import of Iranian crude oil, petrochemicals and petroleum products until 21 August 2026. The licence, published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, also authorises associated services—including banking, insurance, shipping and dollar-denominated payments—and explicitly excludes transactions involving North Korea, Cuba and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. The move fulfils a commitment made in a memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran the previous week.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent linked the decision directly to Iranian undertakings made during ongoing talks in Switzerland. “Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into their country,” he wrote. Vice President JD Vance, leading the American delegation at the Bürgenstock resort, described the inspection commitment as a “major step” towards halting Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that oil and petrochemical exports had been exempted from sanctions and that some frozen assets were being unblocked, while a foreign ministry spokesman stressed that nuclear discussions had been only a “very brief” exchange of positions, not formal negotiations. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar issued a joint statement reporting “encouraging progress” and the creation of a mechanism for technical talks.

The licence temporarily removes a central pillar of the sanctions architecture that had slashed Iranian oil loadings from over 1.5 million barrels per day before the conflict to roughly 260,000 barrels per day in May, according to shipping data. Brent crude, already declining on diplomatic signals, fell further to around $77.80 a barrel, far below the $126 peak reached when Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz and the US responded with a naval blockade of Iranian ports. By permitting dollar settlements and imports into the United States when necessary to complete a sale, the waiver could draw former buyers such as India, Japan and South Korea back into the market, though independent Chinese refiners have been the dominant purchasers of sanctioned Iranian barrels in recent years.

The oil licence is embedded in a 60-day negotiation framework that followed a fragile April ceasefire after a conflict triggered by US-Israeli military strikes on Iran in February 2026. The memorandum of understanding envisages a final agreement covering nuclear inspections, sanctions relief and regional security arrangements, including the status of Lebanon, where Israeli leaders have voiced opposition to the deal and insist on maintaining a troop presence. Congressional Republicans have warned that easing sanctions and unfreezing assets risks repeating what they view as mistakes of the 2015 nuclear accord. Technical teams from both sides remain in Switzerland to elaborate implementation mechanisms, and the licence’s expiry on 21 August aligns with the roadmap’s deadline for a comprehensive settlement.