The US is lifting some sanctions against the Iranian energy sector

The United States has withdrawn a handful of sanctions aimed at the Iranian energy sector for what a senior administration official said was proof of Washington’s “good approach.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that Washington was lifting sanctions on three former Iranian government officials and two companies previously involved in the Iranian petrochemical sector as a result of a “verified change of state or of conduct on the part of the sanctioned parties ”.

“These actions demonstrate our commitment to the lifting of sanctions in the event of a change in status or behavior by sanctioned people,” he said in a statement.

Oil prices momentarily fell more than 2% after the announcement, but quickly recovered their losses, with Brent crude rising 0.4% to $ 72.52 a barrel a day.

The decision is the first time the Biden administration has relaxed sanctions Iran. In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew the United States from a 2015 multi-party nuclear pact that had imposed limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for easing sanctions.

The Trump administration proceeded to launch a campaign of maximum pressure against Iran that went so far as to include more than 1,000 additional sanctions on the country.

The Biden administration is looking to re-enter the nuclear pact and has initiated several rounds of indirect negotiations with Iran in Vienna, although it has not yet made any progress. Tehran has repeatedly demanded that Washington lift sanctions before it agrees to halt its nuclear program. Since the Trump administration withdrew from the deal, Iran has violated key limits on its nuclear production arousing concern to the UN nuclear surveillance dog.

Those who were removed from the list of nationals specially designated by the United States Treasury included former senior officials in the Iranian national oil Company and groups that supported the sanctioned petrochemical sector. The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control places individuals and entities on this list for national security, foreign policy, and sanctions purposes.

A senior government official told the Financial Times that the decision to withdraw some entities from the extensive US sanctions regime was made after Iranian entities requested a professionally executed review.

Although the official said the withdrawal was unrelated to ongoing efforts with the Vienna talks, he showed that the US “could act in good faith”.

“Yes [the Iranians] consider it as evidence that a sanctioned entity can also be sanctioned, as it will be right: being sanctioned is not a life sentence, it is a sentence that is based on the behavior of the party, ”the official said.

“It simply came to our notice then. . . it will lift the sanctions when justified “.