On April 21, 2019, the White House announced that President Trump has decided not to reissue the Iranian oil sanctions waivers, called “Significant Reduction Exceptions” (SREs) when they expire in early May. The White House statement explained that “[t]his decision is intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero, denying the regime its principal source of revenue.”

In November 2018, when the United States resumed full reimposition of sanctions against Iran, the Administration did grant waivers to eight (8) countries to continue to purchase oil from Iran due to concerns over disrupting the international oil market. These SREs were granted to China, India, Japan, Turkey, Italy, Greece, South Korea, and Taiwan for a period of six months and are currently scheduled to lapse on May 2.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently announced that secondary sanctions may be imposed for non-compliance after the SREs are withdrawn.