U.S. cracks down on Iranian shadow fleet shipping oil

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned 35 entities allegedly involved in the shipping of Iranian petroleum to foreign markets. The United States began sanctioning the oil on Oct. 11, following Iran’s Oct. 1 attacks against Israel. The Treasury’s more recent sanctions specifically target more than 20 vessels in the so-called shadow fleet that Iran uses to ship fuel to other countries, the Treasury said. The sanctions also target several companies that the Treasury accuses of managing the vessels.

Why is the United States targeting petroleum shipping? Iran uses much of the profit from its illicit petroleum sales to fund the development of its nuclear program, the Treasury Department said. Part of the profit also goes toward developing ballistic missiles and drones, Treasury added. Washington-based think tank The Atlantic Council believes Russia and China are among Iran’s customers for the oil.

What exactly do the sanctions against these entities mean? Any interests or assets located inside the United States that the sanctioned entities possess will be considered forfeited, the Treasury said. Any assets that the sanctioned entities own more than half of are also subject to seizure. Finally, Americans are prohibited from engaging in commerce with the sanctioned entities.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how Iranian hackers digitally assaulted U.S. presidential campaigns during the last election cycle.