Posted on 04/22/2026 8:23:19 PM PDT by thegagline
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that he extended sanctions relief on Russian and Iranian seaborne oil for 30 days because of requests from countries that are the most vulnerable to oil shortages from the closed Strait of Hormuz.
Bessent told a U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee budget hearing that the requests came from finance leaders of about 10 countries during last week's International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings.
The action reversed his earlier comments last week that he would not renew expiring sanctions waivers. Bessent said estimates that Iran has gained more than $14 billion from the relief are "a myth," but he did not provide an alternate figure.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
As an aside, during WWII, we never lifted sanctions on oil going to Germany or Japan. Nor did we lift sanctions on German or Japanese weapons exports. Because that would be counterintuitive and just plain stupid.
Usually when something like this happens during negotiations, a serious concession was made.
Excellent.
Your “Short Bus” propaganda never disappoints when it works against my country.
Catch up with your nonsense tomorrow Sparky.😉
You Betcha.
It had to be done to keep the world economy from crashing. Trump is just bluffing about bombing Iran into oblivion because Iran would then take out ALL of our Gulf allies oil and gas infrastructure desalinization plants ect. That’s Iran’s ‘Sampson Option’ and they basically have us by the balls and they know it. That infrastructure won’t be rebuilt for many years and basically that ends the petrodollar. Trump is looking for an exit ramp to end this but Iran ain’t making it easy as they know they hold all of the cards.
Bad idea.
The vast majority of Iranian oil goes to China which, unlike the United States, is filling up its strategic oil reserves. It is estimated that China's strategic reserves contains about 1.6 billion barrels of oil. By allowing Iranian oil to be sold at below market rates, the United States is enriching China, Iran, and protecting China's strategic reserves.
We are only helping our enemies- one of whom we are at war with and are performatively blockading.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.