Photo: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei / Photo credit: Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The US has imposed sweeping new sanctions on a vast international shipping empire that it says has funnelled billions of dollars in profit to Tehran. The United States Department of the Treasury described the new sanctions as the “biggest Iran-related sanctions package since 2018,” targeting more than 50 vessels.
“This network transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit,” the Treasury Department said in a statement, describing the sanctions package as a “massive action” against an Iranian family network.
The move is part of US President Donald Trump’s push to increase pressure on Tehran, especially after airstrikes on its nuclear sites in June.
The sanctions broadly target the shipping interests of an Iranian family with a political influence at the highest levels of the Iranian regime which allegedly controls a massive fleet of tankers and containerships.
According to the US Treasury Department, the network comprises a vast fleet of vessels, ship management firms, and front companies that sell Iranian and Russian crude oil and other petroleum products to buyers around the world, and most often to buyers in China.
Treasury accused the network of using personal connections and corruption in Tehran to generate tens of billions of dollars in profits, much of which is used to fund the Iranian regime.
The Treasury’s office of foreign assets control (OFAC) designated more than 50 individuals, entities, and more than 50 vessels.
According to OFAC, some vessels linked to the network loaded a shipment of goods in Iran, turning off their automatic identification system (AIS) transponder during loading, and allegedly misrepresented cargo information in bills of lading.
The sanctions extend to individuals at multiple levels of management across numerous jurisdictions.
A full list of designated entities, vessels, and individuals was published in an annex accompanying the announcement.
The penalties aim to block them from using the U.S. financial system and prohibit American citizens from dealing with them.
As reported, violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis.
“The over 115 sanctions issued today are the largest to-date since the Trump Administration implemented our campaign of maximum pressure on Iran. These actions put America first by targeting regime elites that profit while Tehran threatens the safety of the United States,” said secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
The Iranian ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei condemned on Thursday the new US sanctions against a group of Iranian individuals, entities, and vessels related to Iran’s oil and energy sector.
Baqaei described the imposition of these “unlawful and oppressive sanctions” as clear evidence of the hostility of US decision-makers toward the Iranian people.
The spokesperson described the new US sanctions against Iran’s oil trade as a “malicious act” aimed at damaging Iran’s economic development and the well-being of its people.
He said these unilateral and illegal sanctions are criminal in nature, violate the fundamental principles and norms of international law and human rights, and constitute a crime against humanity.
