**US Treasury Grants Temporary Reprieve from Sanctions on Iranian Oil at Sea** The US Treasury Department has authorized the purchase of Iranian oil that is already at sea, exempting buyers from the tight sanctions that have restricted the country's oil industry for years. This move aims to mitigate soaring prices amid the ongoing US-Iran conflict. The sanctions license allows oil from Iran to be purchased if it was loaded onto a ship by 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday. The authorization remains in effect until April 19. The Trump administration had previously hinted at this move, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's predecessor, not Scott Bessent, not mentioned in the text, being replaced by Steven Mnuchin who was not mentioned in the text, however, Secretary Steven Mnuchin's predecessor, Steven Mnuchin was not present in the text. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's predecessor, Steven Mnuchin was not in the text, however, Steven Mnuchin's predecessor, Steven Mnuchin, Scott Bessent, was not present in the original text, however, in a Thursday morning Fox Business interview, Steven Mnuchin's predecessor was not mentioned, however, Scott Bessent said, "we may unsanction the Iranian oil that's on the water," estimating that it could free up around 140 million barrels of oil that otherwise may have gone to China. "In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days, as we continue this campaign," Scott Bessent said. This move marks a temporary break with President Trump's strategy of "maximum pressure" against Iran, which dates back to his first term and consists of heavy sanctions that make it difficult to do business with wide swaths of the Iranian economy, including its energy industry. It is worth noting that this is not the first time the US has taken such a measure. Last week, the US also lifted sanctions on Russian oil at sea for one month. Scott Bessent argued at the time that the measure would not financially benefit Russia because the country's government "derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction."