US targets sprawling Iranian shadow fleet network in latest sanctions drive
Source: Splash247
The United States has unveiled one of its most extensive crackdowns to date on the Iranian oil-ecosystem, blacklisting a web of front companies, intermediaries and tankers that Washington says bankroll Tehran’s armed forces through clandestine crude sales.
The action, announced overnight by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), hits entities across the UAE, Panama, Liberia, India, Germany and Greece, as well as six vessels, all tied to what officials describe as a “global architecture” enabling Iran’s military to move billions of dollars in oil through the so-called shadow fleet.
“Disrupting the Iranian regime’s revenue is critical to helping curb its nuclear ambitions,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, framing the designations as the latest step in the Trump administration’s maximum-pressure campaign.
At the centre of the sanctions package is Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars, an oil-sales arm of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff. OFAC describes the group as orchestrating a dense system of cut-outs—charterers, shell companies, cargo handlers, and logistics brokers—while using heavily disguised tankers to move crude to Asian end-users at steep discounts.
Among the entities designated are UAE-based Luan Bird Shipping Service, Mars Investment, Moon Line Plastics, and Alsafeenah Althahabya, Panama-registered Loire Shipping, Greek firm Altomare, Germany’s BPT Berlin Petroleum Trading, and Dubai-based Shandong Independent Energy Trading. Their services ranged from chartering shadow fleet tonnage and conducting ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf, to arranging documentation, disguising cargo origin, or routing payments—some via cryptocurrency.
Several individuals linked to Sepehr Energy Jahan’s operations were also named, accused of directing AIS manipulation, falsifying vessel markings, masking ownership trails, and securing European banking channels. OFAC highlighted India-based RN Ship Management and its leadership for operating sanctioned tonnage, including the crude carrier Sobar.
Six additional vessels were identified as blocked property, which OFAC said transported more than 10m barrels of Iranian fuel oil over the past two years. The new designations add to more than 170 vessels already sanctioned under the Trump administration, a move that Washington claims has raised insurance and operational costs for Iranian shipments.
The action also broadens sanctions on Mahan Air, accused of working with the IRGC-Qods Force to supply regional militant groups and the former Assad regime.
US officials stressed that the measures continue earlier rounds of sanctions imposed in February and May, all under authorities targeting terrorism financing and Iran’s petroleum sector.
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