U.S. Treasury Hits Shamkhani Fleet in Biggest Iran Sanctions Since 2018

The U.S. Treasury on 30 July announced its most extensive Iran-related sanctions package in seven years, designating more than 115 individuals, entities and vessels linked to a global oil-shipping empire run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, son of senior Iranian adviser Ali Shamkhani. The Office of Foreign Assets Control identified over 50 ships and an array of front companies across the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and other jurisdictions that it says have laundered tens of billions of dollars from the sale of Iranian and Russian crude and petroleum products, largely to customers in China. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action, taken under Executive Order 13902, is the largest since the Trump administration resumed its ‘maximum-pressure’ campaign in 2018. The designations block all U.S.-linked property and bar American persons from transacting with the listed parties; entities owned 50 percent or more by those sanctioned are also frozen. The State Department simultaneously blacklisted 20 additional firms and flagged 10 vessels for their role in moving Iranian petroleum, underscoring Washington’s intent to tighten enforcement against sophisticated sanctions-evasion networks.