The United States on Tuesday expanded its sanctions targeting Iran’s oil sector, taking further aim at the network of petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the Treasury Department said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the department had also frozen $130 million held in digital wallets linked to Iran’s central bank, hitting a sector that has seen increased activity since the start of the war.
The move came after US forces carried out a fourth straight day of strikes against Iran and reimposed a naval blockade, with Iran in turn hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organisation.
“This action is part of Treasury’s ongoing efforts to ramp up economic pressure on the Iranian regime after it resumed destabilising attacks in the Strait of Hormuz,” the Treasury Department said in a notice Tuesday.
It charged that the Shamkhani network remains a key force behind Iran’s oil exports and has expanded into global commodities trading.
The latest move targeted more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that it said enabled Iranian authorities to profit.
The Treasury Department added that it has now imposed sanctions on over 200 individuals, entities and vessels operating under Shamkhani’s patronage.
