The US State and Treasury departments on Monday levied a barrage of economic sanctions against 22 people and 13 ships linked to Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical industries.
“Iran continues to rely on a shadowy network of vessels, shippers and brokers to facilitate its oil sales and fund its destabilising activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
On February 4, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum returned to the stance he took in his first term, directing the Treasury Department to impose “maximum economic pressure” to try to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. The latest round of sanctions were aimed people and entities based in countries including China and India.
“This network of illicit shipping facilitators obfuscates and deceives its role in loading and transporting Iranian oil for sale to buyers in Asia,” the State Department said. “It has shipped tens of millions of barrels of crude oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
They are part of a broader effort from Washington to bring Iran’s “oil exports to zero”.
“Today’s action represents an initial step to realise President Trump’s campaign of maximum pressure on the Iranian regime,” the State Department said. “It disrupts efforts by Iran to amass oil revenues to fund terrorists’ activities.”