Posted on 03/21/2026 9:46:46 AM PDT by thegagline
The Trump administration temporarily paused sanctions on Iranian oil “stranded at sea” Friday in an effort to curb soaring prices.
“Today, the Department of the Treasury is issuing a narrowly tailored, short-term authorization permitting the sale of Iranian oil currently stranded at sea,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on X.
Bessent said easing sanctions would allow 140 million barrels of oil to hit global markets and help “relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.” Sanctioned Iranian oil is presently being “hoarded by China on the cheap,” according to Bessent.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” the treasury secretary said. *** The pause in sanctions will remain in effect until April 19. ***
Last week, the Trump administration similarly paused sanctions on Russian oil stranded at sea and weighed another release of oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve as fuel prices skyrocketed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Did Biden try to find a solution when I was paying more than $5/gallon here in Upstate NY. Did Hochul?
I paid $3.49/gal last week.
Most of their assets are frozen as of about March 5th, I understand. Their intermediaries may be able to sell the oil, but I don’t think the regime can access the profits.
If giving the enemy, who you are at war with, over $15 billion dollars, that is not a good solution.
The Iranian oil is sold on the spot market (in this case, sanctioned oil). Payment is generally due upon delivery. China, the biggest importer of Iranian oil, doesn’t have its accounts frozen. It could easily circumvent any sanctions imposed on Iranian accounts. China has already transferred money outside of the heavily regulated SWIFT system.
so much for the argument that this war is really a super secret 64D chess move against China. This oil has very little effect on us.
Art of the deal could have blockaded the strait and put Iran China over a barrel, so to speak. Instead, we’re saving China’s military and industrial growth. Good job.
There are still ways of choking off access, even once the money is in the system. On March 11, the United States and Israel conducted a strike destroying the data processing facilities of Iran’s Bank Sepah, crippling its operations. Sepah is the bank that pays the IRGC. I’m hoping we’re also using cyber attacks to interrupt money flow within the country.
Another TACO move by Trump. Quit pussyfooting around, put a blockade around Kharg Island and be done with it. So some people have to pay more at the pump for a while. That’s more than worth it to get rid of the major source of terrorist funds in the world. I don’t want Trump to blow it up, as the people in Iran who will replace the Theocracy in Iran will need to money to rebuild the country.
There are numerous ways to get around sanctions as evidenced by the sheer number of Iranian and Russian ghost ships. Also, payments can take the form of goods and services.
Yes, he drained our emergency reserves. But five dollar gas was the Biden solution. The left likes high gas prices and most of the GOPe doesn’t particularly care either.
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