The United States announced sanctions on 28 May against companies and vessels linked to Iran’s oil trade, in measures aimed at restricting revenue for its military, WorldECR reported. The Treasury and State departments issued separate packages under the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Fury campaign, which seeks to deny funding for the rebuilding of Iran’s armed forces.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 16 entities across jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar, the Marshall Islands, India and the United Arab Emirates. Five Hong Kong companies were listed under counterterrorism powers for roles Treasury described as front-company, chartering and logistics support for the already sanctioned Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company. US authorities identify Sepehr as an oil seller for Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff. The other 11 entities were designated under Executive Order 13846, which provides for asset blocking linked to Iranian oil trade.
According to Treasury’s account, reported by WorldECR, the network delivered tens of millions of barrels of Iranian crude, worth billions of dollars, to Chinese customers, chiefly through Dongjiakou, Dalian and Qingdao. One front company allegedly shipped almost two million barrels worth more than $100 million to China in early 2024. Another arranged storage and port payments for oil awaiting buyers in Qingdao shore tanks. A third procured refined products for the National Iranian Oil Company on behalf of the military’s oil sales operation, including hundreds of thousands of barrels of gasoline loaded in the UAE and taken to Bandar Abbas in January 2025.
The State Department separately sanctioned eight entities and identified eight vessels as blocked property over the transport of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals. It also designated three further entities and one individual connected with Iranian-origin petrochemical trade.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would intensify pressure on Iranian oil income to constrain military rebuilding. Separately, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $15 million for information that helps disrupt financial mechanisms operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The measures follow Treasury’s designation earlier that week of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, which the IRGC established to collect tolls from vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz.