US imposes sanctions on more than 50 people, firms and vessels linked to Iranian shipping

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday announced sanctions against more than 50 individuals, companies and vessels that it said were connected to a shipping and sanctions-evasion network linked to Iranian oil shipping figure Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

The US Treasury Department said the action was taken through its Office of Foreign Assets Control as part of a broader American effort to intensify economic pressure on Iran. According to the department, the measures come after what Washington described as renewed destabilising attacks by Tehran in the Strait of Hormuz.

Measures target shipping and financial network

The Treasury Department said those designated include financial facilitators, shipping executives, logistics companies and vessel operators operating in several countries. It added that all property and interests in property of the sanctioned individuals and entities that fall under US jurisdiction are now blocked.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions were meant to break up what he described as a major financial structure supporting the Iranian government.

The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines,

Bessent said. He added:

Treasury is shutting down the financial infrastructure that allows the regime to continue its threats to US national security and global shipping

State Department cites sanctions evasion network

In a separate statement, US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the move was intended to disrupt Shamkhani’s illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network in the context of Iran’s attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Pigott said the network relies on Iranian and foreign nationals, companies and offshore shell firms to

trade sanctioned goods and recover the proceeds of those trades

The sanctions announcement marks another step in Washington’s effort to raise pressure on Iran through financial and shipping restrictions tied to oil trade and maritime activity.