WSJ: US constrained in imposing sanctions on Russia and Iran

The Biden administration is constrained in imposing extensive sanctions on Russia and Iran's energy sectors due to concerns over global oil price increases.

“The president has wanted to do everything that he could to make sure that American consumers have the lowest price possible at the pump, as it affects families’ daily lives,” a senior administration official told the Wall Street Journal, according to Caliber.Az.

Though tensions between Iran and the US have ratcheted up since the October 7 attacks on Israel by Tehran-backed Hamas, daily exports from Iran surpassed 1.5 million barrels a day this year starting in February, substantially more than at the start of the Biden presidency. Most of that oil is bought by small Chinese refineries at discounted prices.

The U.S. and its allies have been “very, very careful not to go too far and damage the ability of Western economies to function,” when it comes to sanctions, said John Smith, partner at Morrison Foerster and former head of the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Western countries' oil sanctions against Russia came into force on December 5, 2022. The European Union stopped accepting Russian oil transported by sea, and the G7 countries, Australia and the EU imposed a $60 per barrel price cap on oil transported by sea. More expensive oil is prohibited from being transported and insured.