Representative image (AI)
The United States on Friday imposed fresh sanctions on a fleet of nine ships and their owners for allegedly transporting hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of sanctioned Iranian oil to foreign markets. The move marks a further escalation of pressure on Tehran amid ongoing unrest and a nationwide crackdown in Iran.The US Treasury Department said that the sanctions were linked to Iran’s decision to shut down internet access nationwide to conceal its crackdown on protesters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the measures “target a critical component of how Iran generates the funds used to repress its own people.”
According to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the nine vessels, flagged in jurisdictions including Palau and Panama are part of Iran’s “shadow fleet”, a network of ageing tankers used to move oil and other goods in violation of international sanctions, particularly for Iran and Russia. The sanctions bar the targeted entities from doing business with Americans and restrict their access to US-based assets and financial systems. In a post on X, OFAC said the action was taken “amidst the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors and its complete shutdown of internet access to conceal its abuses against the Iranian people.” The agency added that the vessels and their owners or management firms had collectively transported hundreds of millions of dollars in Iranian oil and petroleum products to overseas markets.Iranian citizens and businesses have been grappling with the longest and most comprehensive internet shutdown in the Islamic Republic’s history. Authorities blocked internet access on January 8, as nationwide protests intensified and the government moved to curb information sharing during a violent crackdown.Friday’s sanctions come against the backdrop of escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran. An American aircraft carrier group is moving closer to the Middle East, a move President Donald Trump described as deploying an “armada” during remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One late Thursday. Trump said the ships were being positioned “just in case” action against Iran’s government becomes necessary, news agency AP reported.The US president has repeatedly claimed that his warnings to Iran have prevented the execution of more than 800 dissidents, a statement Iran’s top prosecutor dismissed on Friday as “completely false.”Meanwhile, human rights activists said that the death toll from Iran’s crackdown on nationwide demonstrations has risen to at least 5,032. Earlier this month, the US also sanctioned Iranian officials and firms accused of aiding the repression, including the secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for National Security, whom Washington says was among the first to call for violence against protesters.
