The targeted ships and firms transported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil through fraudulent shipping practices, the US Treasury Department said.
The shadow fleet refers to ships carrying oil that is under sanctions. They are usually old, their ownership is murky and they sail without the top-notch insurance required to meet international standards for oil companies and numerous ports.
The Treasury Department “will continue to deprive the regime of the oil revenues it uses to fund its military and weapons programs,” John Hurley, the department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US claims it is imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and its support for militant allies across the Middle East. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is intended for civilian purposes.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the two countries engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear talks that culminated in a 12-day air war in June in which Israel and the US bombed Iran’s nuclear sites.
Today’s action is also aimed at the Egyptian entrepreneur Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are connected to the seven mentioned ships, as well as to several shipping companies.
The US this month took further action against a tanker carrying Venezuelan oil that Washington had originally sanctioned for carrying Iranian oil.
On December 10, the US seized a tanker known as Skipper off the coast of Venezuela that was transporting crude oil from that South American country, which sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration imposed sanctions on the tanker in 2022 for, as it claims, participation in the Iranian oil trade when the ship was called Addis, reports Reuters.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
