The United States has agreed to a temporary lifting of sanctions on Iran’s oil sector as part of a new draft negotiation framework with Tehran, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday. The latest text would waive certain Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) measures during the negotiation process itself, rather than only after a final agreement is reached.
A source familiar with the talks told Tasnim that Iran is continuing to insist on the complete removal of all US sanctions as a core condition for any long-term deal, arguing that durable relief must be embedded in Washington’s commitments under a future agreement. The US is currently offering only a temporary waiver mechanism that would remain in force until a comprehensive deal is concluded, the report added.
Earlier on Monday, Reuters reported that Iran had shared a revised offer to end the Middle East war, conveyed to the US via Pakistan. Islamabad hosted a recent round of talks that ended in stalemate. The proposal lands hours after President Donald Trump warned on Truth Social that “for Iran, the Clock is Ticking” and there “won’t be anything left of them” without a deal, stalling the diplomatic track.
Washington has been at war with Iran since US and Israeli strikes in late February. Negotiators have struggled to translate the temporary truce into anything lasting, while strikes on Gulf allies on Sunday — three drones intercepted by Saudi Arabia from Iraqi airspace, a fire at the UAE’s Barakah nuclear plant from a fourth drone — kept the security backdrop fragile.
A negotiated OFAC waiver would be the first concrete US concession on Iran oil since the May 12 Treasury sanctions expansion targeting Chinese refiners, and would directly bear on Sri Lanka’s fuel-import bill, which the Treasury is now subsidising at Rs. 57 billion over three months as Brent trades above $110.
Source: Ada Derana / Agencies.
