Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0

[Saif]

US likely to extend Russian oil waiver to temper Iran war shock

US President Donald Trump's administration is likely to extend as soon as Friday a waiver allowing countries to buy some sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US Treasury Department has allowed purchases of Russian oil and products at

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

US likely to extend Russian oil waiver to temper Iran war shock

REUTERS

Published :
Apr 11, 2026 20:30
Updated :
Apr 11, 2026 20:30

US President Donald Trump's administration is likely to extend as soon as Friday a waiver allowing countries to buy some sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The US Treasury Department has allowed purchases of Russian oil and products at sea since mid-March with a 30-day waiver that expires on Apr 11, part of efforts to control global energy prices during the US-Israeli war with Iran.

Russia's presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev had said the original waiver would free 100 million barrels of Russian crude, equal to almost a day's worth of global output.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Trump in the White House on Thursday to talk about extending the waiver, and they agreed it was a good idea, one of the sources said, asking not to be named.

Officials at the White House and Treasury Department did not immediately comment on the matter.

Oil prices LCOc1 have spiked since the start of the war due to the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world's oil and gas had been shipped daily before the conflict. The war is creating the biggest oil supply disruption in history, the 32-nation International Energy Agency has said.

Rising fuel prices are a major concern for Trump and his Republican party leading into midterm elections in November.

The waivers have been criticized by politicians at home and abroad as they could complicate the West's efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine and put Washington at odds with its allies.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said now is not the time to relax sanctions against Russia.

Congressional Backlash

The US also waived sanctions on Iranian oil at sea on Mar 20 for 30 days, in an effort to control prices, spurring criticism from lawmakers from both political parties.

"Waiving oil sanctions now advantages the countries that wish to do us harm," Republican Senator Jerry Moran said last month, as he urged the administration to not renew the waivers. "Iran and Russia are actively working together to place Americans and other innocent lives at risk."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and fellow Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen urged the administration on Friday not to renew the license on Russian oil. “It remains far from clear that the extraordinary step of providing sanctions relief to Russia provided any relief for US consumers or eased the global energy crisis," they said in a statement.

"Instead, even as Russia supported Iran in targeting Americans, the Trump Administration has rewarded the Kremlin while Russia has continued to launch strikes at Ukraine—including a barrage of 1,000 strikes in late March," they said.

India, a US ally vulnerable to fuel shocks resulting from the war, has expected Washington to renew the waiver on Russian oil.​

 

[Saif]

Trump orders blockade of Hormuz strait after Iran talks fail

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said upon arriving back in Tehran that the country would "not bow to any threats" from Washington

en.prothomalo.com

Trump orders blockade of Hormuz strait after Iran talks fail

AFP
Washington, United States
Published: 13 Apr 2026, 09: 20

US President Donald Trump File photo

President Donald Trump ordered the US Navy on Sunday to block the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, furious with Iran's refusal to surrender its nuclear ambitions after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement.

In response to Trump's announcement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned they had traffic in the strategic waterway under their full control and would trap any enemy who tried to challenge it "in a deadly vortex".

In a lengthy declaration on his social media platform, Trump said his eventual goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping, but that in the meantime Iran must not be allowed to profit from its control of the waterway.

"Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said. "Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be blown to hell!"

Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation in Pakistan, said upon arriving back in Tehran that the country would "not bow to any threats" from Washington.

Tehran has itself been restricting traffic through the strait -- a key route for global oil and gas shipments -- while allowing vessels deemed to be working for friendly countries, such as China, to pass. There have been unconfirmed reports that Tehran plans to charge tolls.

"This is world extortion," Trump said. "I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. We will also begin destroying the mines the Iranians laid in the Straits."

The US military had said Saturday that two Navy warships transited through the strait to begin clearing it of mines and ensure it was a "safe pathway" for tankers, a claim denied by Tehran.

Iran's Fars news agency reported on Sunday that two Pakistani-flagged oil tankers heading for the strait had turned around.

Fears of renewed fighting rattled an already tense region after the US-Iran talks collapsed.

"I am worried about the continuation of the situation and the return of attacks again," said Imam, an Egyptian housewife living in UAE capital Abu Dhabi.

"I was making a great effort not to pass my tension on to the children."

'Act of extortion'

Trump later in a Fox News interview again threatened Iran's energy infrastructure, before warning he would impose a 50 percent tariff on Chinese imports if Beijing tried to help the Iranian military.

"I could take out Iran in one day. I could have their entire energy everything, every one of their plants, their electric generating plants," he said.

The president's latest ultimatum appeared to have been triggered by the failure of talks to secure a deal to end the six-week-old war.

Iran's refusal to give up its right to a nuclear programme frustrated the US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

"I have always said, right from the beginning, and many years ago, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon!" Trump said.

"The Blockade will begin shortly. Other Countries will be involved with this Blockade," he added, without specifying which ones.

After the talks -- the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution -- Vance warned that Washington had made Tehran its "final and best offer" for a deal, adding: "We'll see if the Iranians accept it."

Ghalibaf said he had "put forward constructive initiatives" but the US team did not win Iran's trust.

Iranian MP Mahmoud Nabavian, also present at the Pakistan talks, posted on X that the excessive US demands included "a joint share with Iran in the benefits of the Strait of Hormuz" alongside removing the country's 60-percent enriched uranium.

Expert Nicole Grajewski said a US blockade of the strait was "not a minor coercive signal", but would rather be considered an effective renewal of the war.

"It suggests Washington is increasingly disillusioned with diplomacy and more willing to rely on direct military means," said Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po's Center for International Research.

'War continues'

The failure of the talks will raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities.

Pakistan urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.

But concern has grown that the ceasefire could collapse in part because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where Iran has insisted the truce also applies.

Lebanese and Israeli officials are due to hold talks in Washington on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to troops in southern Lebanon, according to a video posted Sunday, saying the threat of a Hezbollah invasion of northern Israel was removed but the "war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon".

Tamara, an 18-year-old cashier in Beirut, said focus should remain on her country, where Israeli strikes killed more than 350 people on Wednesday.

"We can't say the war has stopped because there are talks," she said.

"We mustn't forget the massacre that happened."​