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Iran claims US will lift oil and shipping sanctions as nuclear talks press ahead

The US government has agreed to lift all oil and shipping sanctions during discussions to revive the nuclear agreement with Tehran, an Iranian official said on Wednesday.

“An agreement has been reached to lift all insurance, oil and shipping sanctions imposed by (former US President Donald) Trump,” Iranian state media quoted Mahmoud Vaezi, outgoing president Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff, as saying.

The deal would reportedly also see some prominent Iranian public officials removed from the US blacklist.

Vaezi said: “About 1,040 Trump-era sanctions will be lifted under the deal. It was also agreed to lift some sanctions against individuals and members of the close circle of the Supreme Leader.”

Iran committed in 2015 to limiting its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of international sanctions. However, Trump abandoned the deal three years later and reimposed sanctions, after which Tehran responded by violating some nuclear limits.

The new US government has been looking to restore the deal, but the sides are said to disagree on which steps need to be taken and when. Western powers taking part in the negotiations said the finalisation of the new nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington is yet to be reached.

The talks were adjourned on Sunday, following the presidential election in Iran, won by Ebrahim Raisi, who is also on the US blacklist. In his first press conference after his election, Raisi said on Monday that his priorities would be improving relations with regional neighbours and reviving the 2015 nuclear deal.

Reports say that Iran may be able to quickly export millions of barrels of stored oil if it reaches an agreement with the US, and that it is working to transport oil in preparation for its eventual return on the market.

Oil prices have yet to react to claims from Iran, which, if proven to be true, could push the benchmarks higher. A recent report from Bank of America said that tighter oil supply and demand balances in 2022 could push oil briefly to $100 per barrel.

Adis Ajdin

Adis is an experienced news reporter with a background in finance, media and education. He has written across the spectrum of offshore energy and ocean industries for many years and is a member of International Federation of Journalists. Previously he had written for Navingo media group titles including Offshore Energy, Subsea World News and Marine Energy.
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