The US Treasury Department said on Tuesday that it will not not renew a previously issued authorization allowing purchases of seaborne Iranian crude when it expires on 19 April.
Treasury issued that waiver on 20 March, ostensibly to alleviate the Mideast Gulf supply disruption caused by the US-Iran war.
But Treasury on Tuesday said it would pursue "Economic Fury" — likely playing off the Operation Epic Fury designation for the US attacks against Iran, which have been on pause from 7 April.
Treasury on Tuesday also doubled down on warnings for foreign banks to avoid any deals with Iran, warning that it is "prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran's activities".
Independent refiners in China have been the only paying customers of Iranian crude since the US imposed a full ban on the Iranian oil industry in 2019.
At least one Iranian cargo was en route to India as of 7 April, signalling IOC's Paradip refinery as its new destination after diverting from China. But the brief window of availability of Iranian crude did not generate wider interest as most market participants expected sanctions to snap back and were wary of compliance scrutiny.
Tehran is pushing for full sanctions relief in the so-far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the US-Iran war.
The US Navy starting Monday began to enforce a blockade of vessels leaving Iranian ports, by preventing their passage through the Gulf of Oman. It is not yet clear how effective the effort is as some ships appear to have moved through the area.
Iran already has restricted passage of most ships through the strait of Hormuz.
