The Treasury Department's short-term authorization to move sanctioned Iranian crude expired at 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on Sunday, closing the only legal window under which some 140 million barrels of cargo loaded before March 20 could be delivered, sold or offloaded. [1] The instrument, General License U, was issued on March 20 with a built-in 30-day life and a fixed end date of April 19. [2] Treasury confirmed on Tuesday that it would not be renewed. [3]

The paper read the week's earlier asymmetry in its Saturday lead on the hexagon that met the ceasefire rally. The Russia version of the same instrument, General License 134A, was allowed to expire on April 11; two days later, Treasury quietly extended other Russia-linked waivers through May 16. The Iran side got no such bridge.

Treasury's X account framed the choice in its own language on Tuesday. "Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury, maintaining maximum pressure on Iran," it wrote, warning that "financial institutions should be on notice that the department is leveraging the full range of available tools and authorities and is prepared to deploy secondary sanctions." [3] The department added that Iranian oil already stranded at sea "is set to expire in a few days and will not be renewed." [3] On Wednesday, OFAC sanctioned more than two dozen individuals, companies and vessels operating inside the network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of the deceased senior Iranian security adviser Ali Shamkhani. [4]

For tanker operators, the arithmetic now inverts. Cargoes that were legal Saturday are contraband Sunday. Baker McKenzie noted that GL U had been "the first OFAC general license broadly authorizing transactions involving Iranian-origin crude oil," and warned affected parties to evaluate "the limited duration" carefully. [2] The window closed.

-- THEO KAPLAN, San Francisco