U.S. Temporarily Eases Iran Oil Sanctions, Raising Fears of a Cash Windfall for the Revolutionary Guards

The United States signed an official document today allowing Iran to sell oil on the open market in U.S. dollars. The temporary waiver suspends sanctions on Iran’s oil industry for two months and, according to the article, also covers the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which could benefit directly from the move.

The article says the decision gives Tehran open access to sell oil and petrochemical products and could rapidly inject money into a strained Iranian economy. Energy experts are cited as estimating that nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil per day could return to the international market, potentially generating billions of dollars in a short period. It also says some frozen Iranian assets in foreign banks could be released.

Security concerns center on the fact that the money would move through official banking channels under the supervision of Iran’s central bank, which the article describes as closely tied to the Revolutionary Guards. That, it says, could let the regime fund reconstruction, rearmament, and support for regional terror networks and militias that have suffered losses in recent fighting.

The U.S. Treasury said the step is a temporary economic incentive intended to compel Iran to meet the terms of a memorandum reached at the Bürgenstock summit. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that, following “productive talks” in Switzerland, Iran committed to free and open passage through the Strait of Hormuz and to allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors into the country, and that the Treasury issued a 60-day general license for Iranian oil production, supply, and sales.

Washington says the time limit is meant to preserve leverage for a broader deal to end the war, conditioned on dismantling Iran’s nuclear program. Still, U.S. analysts quoted in the article warn that Tehran will likely use oil access as leverage, drag out talks, and demand an extension when the 60 days expire. Vice President JD Vance called the diplomacy progress significant, saying, “The final agreement is the house. We laid the foundations. We did not build the house, but we laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”