Andrea Gacki has stepped down as director of the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac).

It is unclear when Gacki — who took a lead on administering US sanctions against Iran first in 2018 and then under "maximum pressure" measures — departed, but recent Ofac actions list Bradley Smith as the agency's acting director.

The Treasury department did not respond to TradeWinds' request for details of Gacki's departure, or when a permanent replacement might be hired.

A new Ofac director would not require confirmation by the US Senate.

Gacki's tenure coincided with a bevy of Ofac actions that impacted shipping as the US sought to halt oil exports from Iran and Venezuela in a bid to topple their regimes.

Since 2018 — when the US dropped out of a 2015 deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran limiting its nuclear programme — more than 100 Iranian and Venezuelan ships have been sanctioned, along with dozens of companies that chartered them or arranged for the lifting of oil.

Gacki came to Ofac after a stint with the Department of Justice, spending more than 10 years working her way up to become deputy director in 2017. In 2018, she would be named director, first on an acting, then a permanent basis.

She stayed with the office until at least 14 January, when she signed a general licence regarding US investment in Chinese companies with alleged military ties, including some shipyards.

Fresh face

Since then, Smith has been signing Ofac licences.

According to his LinkedIn profile, he spent five years with the Department of Justice and just over two years as deputy legal advisor to the White House's national security staff under former president Barack Obama.

In 2013, Smith joined Ofac and was made deputy director in 2018.

Gacki's departure comes amid expectations that President Joe Biden — who was sworn in on 20 January — will take a more diplomatic approach when dealing with Iran.

It is said he would like to rejoin the 2015 deal, hashed out under the Obama administration, where Biden served as vice president.

Iran has said it would comply with the deal if the US lifts sanctions, although US officials have said sanctions will stay in place until Iran can prove compliance.