Washington tightens sanctions on Iran amid protests crackdown

The US government has increased pressure on Iran’s shadow fleet as the Islamic Republic continues “brutal crackdown” on protestors amid total shutdown of internet access.

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The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned nine vessels and their respective owners or management firms that have collectively transported “hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and petroleum products to foreign markets.”

These vessels are allegedly a part of Iran’s shadow fleet, OFAC has claimed. They are managed by a group of companies operating out of various jurisdictions. The revenues earned from these transactions are “diverted to fund its regional terrorist proxies, weapons programs, and security services,” OFAC added.

The US treasury department has targeted Palau-flagged SEA BIRD – managed and operated by UAE-based Horizon Harvest Shipping. The vessel has allegedly transported Iranian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) to East Asia, Djibouti, and the UAE.

An unknown-flagged vessel, LONGEVITY 7, owned and managed by Marshall Islands-based Longevity Shipping, has transported Iranian clean condensate received via a ship-to-ship transfer, OFAC reported.

Operating as a part of the Iranian shadow fleet since 2020, the LONGEVITY 7 has “carried multiple cargoes of Iranian methanol in 2022,” the US treasury department claimed.

Another target, Comoros-flagged AVON - owned and operated by India-based Aayat Ship Management - has transported multiple shipments of Iranian LPG to Bangladesh and Pakistan in 2025, the US treasury department further claimed.

The US administration has sanctioned six more vessels, along with their managers – based in Oman, Seychelles, Marshall Islands and Liberia – for conducting similar fraudulent trades.

OFAC alleges that these vessels engage in other obfuscation techniques to hide their activities, like ship-to-ship (STS) transfers after daylight hours, Automated Identification System (AIS) spoofing, and conspicuous gaps in AIS location reporting.

By assembling a shadow fleet of poorly maintained vessels to circumvent sanctions meant to restrict the movement of Iranian petroleum products, Tehran has effectively generated thousands of dollars in revenue to support regional armed groups, including the Yemen-based Houthis and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, OFAC said earlier.

The move reinforces Washington’s commitment to tightening sanctions on Iran as it strives to bring the OPEC member’s oil exports down to zero, amid country-wide unrest.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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