US Sanctions More than 50 Iranian Companies, Vessels, and individuals

ERBIL (Kurdistanan24) - The United States Treasury Department announced on Tuesday a sweeping new sanctions campaign against Iran, targeting more than 50 companies, vessels, and individuals accused of helping Tehran evade international sanctions and finance regional armed groups.

The measures, unveiled by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), focused on what Washington described as Iran’s “shadow banking system” and “shadow fleet,” alongside international financial networks allegedly involved in supporting Hamas financing activities.

In a statement released under the campaign titled “Economic Fury,” OFAC said the sanctions target a major Iranian foreign currency exchange house and affiliated front companies accused of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions on behalf of sanctioned Iranian banks.

According to the US Treasury Department, Iranian exchange houses collectively process billions of dollars in foreign currency transactions annually, allowing Tehran and its armed forces to bypass sanctions, access international financial systems, and move revenues generated from oil and petrochemical exports.

The sanctions package also included the blocking of 19 vessels allegedly involved in transporting Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products to foreign markets. US officials said those operations generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the Iranian government.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Iran’s shadow banking networks were facilitating “illicit transfers of funding for terrorist purposes.”

“As Treasury systematically dismantles Tehran’s shadow banking system and shadow fleet under Economic Fury, financial institutions must remain alert to how the regime manipulates the international financial system to wreak havoc,” Bessent said in the statement.

The Treasury Department said the administration continues to pursue a “maximum pressure” strategy aimed at limiting Iran’s ability to generate, transfer, and repatriate funds.

US officials stated that the campaign has already disrupted billions of dollars in projected oil revenues, contributed to the freezing of nearly half a billion dollars in cryptocurrency allegedly linked to the Iranian regime, and targeted networks involved in sanctions evasion through digital assets and front companies.

The statement also noted that Washington had sanctioned networks accused of supplying weapons and military components to Iran, in addition to imposing penalties on what it described as a corrupt Iraqi official allegedly involved in facilitating oil sales alongside Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq.

Treasury officials warned that any foreign companies or financial institutions supporting Iranian trade operations — including airlines and foreign banks — could also face secondary sanctions.

The department specifically referenced possible measures against financial institutions connected to independent Chinese “teapot” oil refineries accused of facilitating Iranian oil transactions.

The latest sanctions were issued under Executive Order 13902, which targets entities operating in Iran’s financial, petroleum, and petrochemical sectors.

US authorities said the new designations build on previous OFAC actions targeting Iranian exchange houses, banking facilitators, cryptocurrency platforms, and other mechanisms allegedly used to evade sanctions.

Separately, the US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of financial networks tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliated branches.

The announcement marks one of the broadest economic pressure measures imposed on Iran in recent months, as tensions continue across the Middle East amid ongoing regional conflicts and escalating confrontations involving Tehran and Washington.