WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States granted 180-day waivers on Iran sanctions to China, India and seven other countries on Friday in exchange for those nations cutting purchases of oil from the Islamic Republic.

President Barack Obama’s administration has now renewed waivers for all 20 of Iran’s major oil buyers, after granting them to Japan and 10 EU countries in September. Friday’s action was the second renewal for all 20 after Obama signed the sanctions into law a year ago.

WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The United States granted
180-day waivers on Iran sanctions to China, India and seven
other countries on Friday in exchange for those nations cutting
purchases of oil from the Islamic Republic.

President Barack Obama’s administration has now renewed
waivers for all 20 of Iran’s major oil buyers, after granting
them to Japan and 10 EU countries in September. F r iday’s action
was the second renewal for all 20 after Obama signed the
sanctions into law a year ago.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has aggressively ramped up its use of financial sanctions this year to pressure Iran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, but a measure that takes effect in February could have the most dramatic impact yet, the Treasury Department’s top sanctions official said on Thursday.

Starting February 6, U.S. law will prevent Iran from repatriating earnings it gets from its shrinking oil export trade, a powerful sanction that will “lock up” a substantial amount of Tehran’s funds, said David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury Department.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The United States has
aggressively ramped up its use of financial sanctions this year
to pressure Iran to stop pursuing nuclear weapons, but a measure
that takes effect in February could have the most dramatic
impact yet, the Treasury Department’s top sanctions official
said on Thursday.

Starting Feb. 6, U.S. law will prevent Iran from
repatriating earnings it gets from its shrinking oil export
trade, a powerful sanction that will “lock up” a substantial
amount of Tehran’s funds, said David Cohen, undersecretary for
terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury
Department.

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The federal electricity
regulator has turned heads with recent manipulation cases
against large banks that trade power, but its chairman said on
Thursday the agency is not aiming to push Wall Street out of the
market.

“We’re an equal opportunity enforcer. We’ll go after anybody
who we believe is engaged in an activity that is inappropriate
or is in violation of the statute,” Jon Wellinghoff, chairman of
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, told reporters.

WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – A surprising U.S. energy
production windfall puts the country at risk of ignoring the
urgent need to transform its transportation sector to depend
less on oil and more on electricity and natural gas, a
high-profile group of chief executives and retired military
brass warned on Monday.

No matter how much oil is produced domestically, the U.S.
economy is vulnerable to the risk of global price shocks caused
by unrest or production cuts in the Middle East, they said.

WASHINGTON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Friday
resoundingly approved new sanctions on trade with Iran’s energy,
port, shipping and ship-building sectors, its latest effort to
ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

The new package builds on existing U.S. sanctions but
maintains exemptions for countries that have made significant
cuts to their purchases of Iranian crude oil.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is set to consider a broader range of economic sanctions on Iran. The measures are aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop efforts to enrich uranium to levels that could be used in weapons.

If accepted, the proposal would become part of the annual defence policy bill, which must be approved by the Senate and House of Representatives before it can become law.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is set to
consider a broader range of economic sanctions on Iran. The
measures are aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop efforts to
enrich uranium to levels that could be used in weapons.

If accepted, the proposal would become part of the annual
defense policy bill, which must be approved by the Senate and
House of Representatives before it can become law.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate is set to
consider a broader set of economic sanctions on Iran’s energy,
port, shipping and ship-building sectors, as lawmakers look for
new ways to pressure Tehran to stop efforts to enrich uranium to
levels that could be used in weapons.

It is the third time in a year that U.S. lawmakers have
looked for new ways to cut off revenues they believe fund Iran’s
nuclear program, which Tehran has said is strictly for civilian
purposes.