The U.S. Treasury on 9 July designated 22 companies in Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye for facilitating the sale of Iranian oil that bankrolls the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. The entities, described as front companies in a “shadow banking” network, allegedly moved hundreds of millions of dollars through offshore accounts to skirt existing sanctions. All U.S. property of the black-listed firms is now blocked, and Americans are barred from doing business with them. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Iranian regime “relies heavily on its shadow banking system to fund its destabilising nuclear and ballistic-missile programmes,” adding that Washington will keep disrupting the network. Foreign financial institutions working with the sanctioned firms risk secondary sanctions. The latest action follows Treasury measures announced on 3 July against a separate network run by Iraqi-British businessman Salim Ahmed Said, accused of smuggling billions of dollars in Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi shipments. The earlier round also targeted Lebanon’s Hezbollah by black-listing its Al-Qard Al-Hassan financial arm and seven senior officials. Together, the two rounds deepen the Trump administration’s maximum-pressure campaign aimed at cutting off revenue that, according to U.S. officials, finances Tehran’s weapons programmes and regional proxy groups.