OFAC issues time-limited authorization for Iranian-origin petroleum transactions
Date of publication: June 25, 2026.
Global trade, shipping, insurance, and financial services companies should take note of a new, time-limited authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) covering certain transactions involving Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products.
OFAC’s General License X authorizes, through August 21, 2026, 12:01 am EDT, transactions that would otherwise be prohibited under several Iran- and Russia-related sanctions authorities, provided those transactions are ordinarily incident and necessary to the production, sale, delivery, or offloading of covered Iranian-origin petroleum products.
The authorization is notable because it extends beyond the cargo itself. Covered activity may include vessel docking and anchoring, crew health and safety, emergency repairs, environmental mitigation, vessel management, crewing, bunkering, piloting, registration, flagging, insurance, classification, and salvage. OFAC also states that authorized transactions may include the importation into the United States of Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical products, and petroleum products where ordinarily incident and necessary to an authorized sale, delivery, or offloading.
General License X also permits payments owed to Iran, the Government of Iran, or blocked persons for authorized purchases to be made in U.S. dollar-denominated funds. This is a significant operational point for banks, traders, insurers, and maritime service providers assessing whether and how to support covered transactions.
However, the license is not a blanket suspension of Iran sanctions. It does not authorize transactions involving persons located in or organized under the laws of North Korea, Cuba, certain Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, Crimea, or entities owned or controlled by, or in joint ventures with, such persons. It also does not authorize transactions prohibited by sanctions authorities outside those specifically referenced in the license.