Peace

Trump Lets Americans Buy Iranian Oil for the First Time Since the 1980s

As part of peace negotiations, the U.S. Treasury issued an unprecedented total waiver from Iranian oil sanctions.

Matthew Petti | 6.23.2026 10:15 AM

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(Babak Bordbar/MEI/SIPA/Newscom/Daniel Torok/White House via AQP. Illustration: Adani Samat)

American companies have not been able to buy Iranian oil directly since 1987, when President Ronald Reagan banned imports in retaliation for the Tanker War. Congress also banned indirect imports in 1996. But for the next two months, Americans may be putting Iranian oil in their cars, thanks to the ongoing peace negotiations.

Under General License X, the U.S. Treasury has waived all sanctions on the "production, sale, delivery, or offloading of crude oil, petrochemical products, or petroleum products of Iranian origin" from June 22 through August 21. The U.S.-Iranian memorandum of understanding required Iran to stop impeding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. to lift its embargo on Iranian oil for the duration of peace talks, which began in Switzerland over the weekend.

The waiver goes beyond the prewar situation, or even the situation before the first Trump administration began its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran in 2019. Iran is now allowed to load oil onto American ships, sell to American refineries, and—most importantly—collect the payment in American dollars that passed through the American banking system. It is a........

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