US sanctions two oil tankers allegedly linked to Iran

Washington has added two more oil tankers to its sanctions list for allegedly funding the Russian government and Houthi militia.

PHOTO: Flags of the US and Iran. Getty Images

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned two more oil tankers: the Panama-flagged Kohana, owned by Hong Kong-registered Kohana Company and operated by Marshall Islands-based Iridescent, and the ARTURA, owned by Hong Kong-based Cap Tees Shipping.

Iran has used these vessels to fund Russia’s ongoing military operations in Ukraine as well as support the Yemen-based Houthi militant group in the ongoing insurgency in the Red Sea, OFAC claimed.

The Panama-flagged oil tanker Kohana shipped Iranian commodities worth more than $100 million to China on behalf of the members of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), OFAC said. These entities linked with Iran helped the country manufacture weapons, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the OFAC added.

“MODAFL continues to facilitate the delivery of Iranian weapons, most UAVs, to Russia in support of its war of aggression in Ukraine and to Iranian-aligned militia groups in the Middle East,” the statement read.

The ARTURA conducted ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of Iranian commodities to MEHLE, an oil tanker already sanctioned by the US Treasury Department. “The ARTURA has obfuscated its identity by using the name of a different vessel, SANAN II, to complete some of its shipments,” OFAC said.

OFAC sanctions Houthi militants

The OFAC also sanctioned Mohammad Reza Falahzadeh, the deputy commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and a Houthi member, and Ibrahim al-Nashiri, another Houthi insurgent, for supporting the group’s persistent militant operations in the Red Sea.

"The revenue generated through these illicit networks enables the Houthis' militant efforts, including numerous terrorist attacks in the region using advanced unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles," the OFAC said.

Since November 2023, the Yemeni militant group has been attacking commercial vessels in the Suez Canal trade route and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait as a form of retaliation against Israel's rejection of a ceasefire in Gaza. The ongoing tensions have forced several shipping companies to re-route vessels via the Cape of Good Hope and put some upward pressure on oil [Brent] prices.

The southern part of the Red Sea is a much shorter and more cost-effective route for maritime transportation through the Suez Canal, which is responsible for about 12% of global trade, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

By Aparupa Mazumder 

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