The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday revoked authorization to sell Iranian oil following a series of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week.
“Iran can only benefit if it behaves well,” a U.S. official told CNBC on condition of anonymity. “Iran’s actions in the Straits are completely unacceptable to the United States and will have consequences.”
A liquefied natural gas tanker, an oil supertanker and an unspecified third tanker were attacked in or near Hormuz on Tuesday, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led naval group that provides security updates to merchant ships in the Middle East.
The center warned seafarers in a notice that the threat to ships passing through Hormuz has increased to “severe” due to possible hostile actions by Iran.
After the US and Iranian governments reached a tentative agreement last month to reopen Hormuz, the Treasury Department granted sanctions relief for Iranian oil until August 21. The waiver allowed, among other provisions, imports of Iranian crude oil into the United States and payments in dollars to the Iranian government. Critics decried the waiver as a major concession to the Islamic Republic.
Iran promised ships could safely navigate Hormuz under a deal with the United States, but Tehran has since insisted ships must use the Northern Passage, which is under its control. They attacked ships using the U.S. Navy’s protected shipping lanes along the coast of Oman.
“This is part of a sporadic targeted operation by Iran to destabilize the Southern Corridor and send a message to Gulf producers who will not send oil through the Northern Corridor,” said Michel Wiese Bockmann, senior maritime intelligence analyst at Windward.
Iran’s mining of Hormuz has caused ships to avoid the traditional route through the center of Hormuz.
