Washington intensifies pressure on Iran with more sanctions
The US government has targeted more than 50 vessels and 50 individuals for allegedly transporting sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil and petroleum products.
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The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on these vessels, including oil tankers and container ships, and shipping firms that are controlled by the son of Iran’s top political advisor Ali Shamkhani.
These vessels undergo frequent operational changes “to ensure that determining the ultimate responsibility for any particular vessel remains opaque and difficult to trace back to the Shamkhani family,” the US treasury department claims.
The treasury department has sanctioned the Liberia-flagged BIGLI, the Grenadines-flagged ACE and 48 more vessels for turning off their automatic identification system (AIS) transponder while they have loaded goods in Iran, and for falsifying cargo information in bills of lading.
It has also sanctioned UAE-based Marvise SMC DMCC and several other firms for managing many of Shamkhani’s shipping firms and controlling a dozens of vessels that publicly appear to be owned by other companies transporting crude oil and LPG for Iran.
“The Shamkhani network’s fleet also includes vessels owned, managed, and operated by special purpose vehicles incorporated specifically for providing a legal and financial insulation around each of Hossein Shamkhani’s vessels,” the US treasury department said.
This is one of the US' biggest sanction actions to date and underscores Donald Trump's stance on intensifying sanctions against Iran, as the US continues efforts to drive the OPEC nation’s oil exports to zero.
According to OFAC, Iran has been using a covert fleet of aging, substandard vessels to bypass sanctions designed to limit its crude oil shipments. This strategy has reportedly allowed Tehran to funnel millions of dollars into regional proxy groups, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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