Washington targets Iran’s shadow fleet again
The US government has sanctioned more vessels that are allegedly a part of Iran’s shadow fleet.
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The US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has targeted Iran’s illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network, including maritime insurance companies and shadow fleet vessels, it said.
OFAC has designated two Iranian insurance firms – Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority – for forcing commercial vessels to purchase “mandatory maritime insurance” to transit the Strait of Hormuz, it said.
These policies are “designed to extract revenue under the guise of maritime services”, OFAC claimed.
The US treasury department has sanctioned the Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker WELL SAIL, owned and operated by China-based Qi Hang Ship Management, for transporting “hundreds of thousands of barrels of Iranian petroleum products” to the UAE this year.
Another target, Mozambique-flagged crude oil tanker LILY, owned by Hong Kong-based Confident Apex, has transported “millions of barrels of Iranian oil since 2025.”
The US agency has sanctioned six more vessels and their owners for facilitating similar transactions on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), it said.
The latest measure forms part of Washington’s campaign to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero, the treasury department said earlier.
“Since the beginning of the year, OFAC has sanctioned over 100 vessels linked to Iran’s shadow fleet, a covert logistics network that enables the regime to keep oil revenues flowing, despite international sanctions,” OFAC said.
By assembling a shadow fleet of poorly maintained vessels to circumvent sanctions meant to restrict the movement of Iranian crude oil, Tehran has generated revenue that has supported regional armed groups, including the Yemen-based Houthis and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, OFAC claimed earlier.
By Aparupa Mazumder
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