US waives Iran oil sanctions for two months in $10 billion payday
WASHINGTON — The US government on Monday formally waived oil sanctions on Iran for two months — allowing for roughly $10 billion in revenue as nuclear talks continued with Iranian officials in Switzerland.
Read more Shooting at Montreal grocery store leaves 1 cop dead, 1 wounded
The Treasury Department waiver lasts through Aug. 21 — giving Iran the ability to openly sell its oil for the first time since the 1990s, meaning it will pocket new profits by avoiding discounted sales.
The waiver was announced as Vice President JD Vance prepared to depart peace talks in Switzerland — and follows President Trump last week lifting the two-month US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
The waiver could allow Iran to take in an estimated $60 billion annually — or $10 billion for the two-month window.
Tehran has long sold its oil to China in violation of US sanctions and now can boost profits by eliminating discounts that reached up to $10 per barrel, according to market analysis cited in US government reports.
These new market-rate transactions could translate into roughly $14 million in additional daily profits — or about $840 million over the 60-day window.
The figure isn’t precise because it depends on oil prices, which are plunging as the Strait of Hormuz reopens pursuant to the US-Iran memorandum of understanding signed last week.
The higher range of calculations also assumes that Iran’s oil infrastructure centered on Kharg Island is fully operational.
Read more Cops called to Jets QB Geno Smith’s Florida home over alleged battery — as disturbing video emerges
Vance defended the looming action last week, saying sanctions were difficult to enforce before the war and did not impede Iran’s exports to China, which then paid outside the US-governed international banking system.
The easing of oil sales is part of a trio of financial inducements for Iran to give up its highly enriched uranium following the signing of the MOU to end the nearly four-month war.
The Trump administration is also offering to unfreeze more than $100 billion in Iranian assets and facilitate a $300 billion Gulf Arab-financed reconstruction fund.
The inducements would be granted in phases, contingent on Iranian steps to relinquish uranium and sever aid to terrorist proxies.
Vance said Monday in Switzerland that unfrozen funds would not go directly to Iran, but would buy “American soy, American corn, and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people.”
A similar concept was applied to $6 billion released in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden in exchange for five US citizens jailed in Iran. That money was transferred to Qatar for humanitarian purchases — but the release was paused when Iran-backed Hamas rampaged through southern Israel weeks later.
