Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

US Revokes Iran Oil Waiver Through Aug. 21 as 3 Hormuz Tanker Attacks Lift Crude 6%

Updated

Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

US Revokes Iran Oil Waiver Through Aug. 21 as 3 Hormuz Tanker Attacks Lift Crude 6%

Q: What were the 'recent attacks' that derailed a major U.S.-Iran peace initiative and its oil waiver?

The “recent attacks” were a cluster of strikes on commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on July 6 and July 7 that shattered confidence in the U.S.-Iran interim peace arrangement and prompted Washington to revoke the oil waiver. According to the reported details, the first incidents came Monday night, when Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was said to have fired missiles at ships transiting the strait, damaging two vessels, including a Saudi-flagged crude tanker. Early Tuesday, another tanker near Limah, Oman — later identified in reports as the Qatari LNG carrier *Al-Rekayyat* — was hit by a projectile and caught fire. A further tanker was also reportedly struck within the same 24-hour period, suffering structural damage. Those attacks were especially damaging because they hit the core promise of the June U.S.-Iran memorandum: safe commercial passage through Hormuz in exchange for limited sanctions relief, including General License X for Iranian oil sales. Once tankers were again being hit in the waterway, the rationale for the waiver collapsed. In short, the attacks were the reported missile, drone, and projectile strikes on multiple commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz over July 6-7, including a Saudi tanker and the Qatari LNG ship *Al-Rekayyat*.

3 articles · Updated · USA TODAY · Jul 7

The Treasury on July 7 canceled the license that had allowed Iranian crude production, delivery and sales, putting a preliminary US-Iran peace deal at risk.
Three recent tanker attacks in the Strait of Hormuz triggered the move, with a US official calling Iran's conduct unacceptable even though Tehran has not accepted responsibility.
Brent crude jumped nearly 6% to near $76 a barrel after the revocation, underscoring the market impact of renewed threats along a key export route.
The waiver had been a major US concession because oil provides more than half of Iran's export revenue; under the June memorandum, broader sanctions relief and asset unfreezing depended on Iranian compliance.
The administration still says talks continue in good faith toward a final accord within two months, but the memorandum is increasingly fragile after June US strikes on Iran following an earlier ship attack.