Washington slaps fresh sanctions on Iran

The US government has imposed sanctions on a shipping company and several Iran-based entities amid ongoing nationwide protests.

IMAGE: Crude oil pump jacks pictured at dusk. Getty Images

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed fresh sanctions in response to the Islamic Republic’s “brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators,” it said.

Washington has also sanctioned Iran’s “shadow banking networks” that conduct transactions involving the production, transportation, and export of sanctioned Iranian crude oil and oil distillates.

Among the latest targets is UAE-based Naviera Shipping and Trading, which OFAC said functions as a financial front company.

“OFAC is also designating 18 individuals and entities who play critical roles in laundering the proceeds of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical sales to foreign markets,” through the alleged network of shadow banks, it added.

Since January 2025, the Donald Trump-led US administration has sanctioned more than 180 vessels responsible for shipping Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, OFAC said earlier.

The action comes as protests intensify across the OPEC member state, with demonstrators demanding regime change and markets increasingly wary that any US intervention could threaten oil supply flows from the Middle East.

Iran is the fourth-largest OPEC member, producing around 3.2 million b/d of crude oil. The move further reinforces Washington’s commitment to tightening sanctions on Iran as it strives to bring the OPEC member’s oil exports down to zero.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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