The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday revoked its authorization of Iranian oil sales after a series of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week.
“Iran will only reap benefits if they exhibit good behavior,” a U.S. official told CNBC. “Iran’s actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences.”
A liquefied natural gas tanker, an oil supertanker and an unspecified third tanker came under attack in or near Hormuz on Tuesday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a naval group led by the U.S. that provides security updates to merchant vessels in the Middle East.
The threat to ships crossing Hormuz has increased to “severe” as hostile action by Iran is likely, the center warned mariners in a notice.
Treasury had waived sanctions on Iranian oil through Aug. 21 after Washington and Tehran inked an interim deal to reopen Hormuz last month. The waiver allowed the import of Iranian crude to the U.S. and payment to Tehran in dollars among other provisions. Critics had slammed the waiver as major concession to the Islamic Republic.
Iran, for its part, promised ships safe passage through Hormuz under the deal with the U.S. But Tehran has subsequently insisted that vessels must use a northern route under its control. It has attacked ships that use a U.S. Navy protected route along Oman’s coast.
“This is part of this sporadic targeted campaign by Iran to destabilize that southern corridor and send a message to Gulf state producers that are not sending their oil via that northern corridor,” said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward.
Ships are avoiding the traditional route through the center of Hormuz because Iran mined it.
