The United States has imposed new sanctions relating to Iran against two Iranian marine insurance companies, eight oil tankers and 10 companies, accusing Tehran of using coercive insurance schemes and a ‘shadow fleet’ to finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and evade US sanctions.
On 29 July, the US Treasury Department announced that it had imposed sanctions on the insurance company Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and the Strait of Hormuz Safe Maritime Services Organisation, claiming that they operated a scheme, backed by the IRGC, which forced commercial vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz to purchase insurance against risks “created by Iran itself”, including the threat of vessel seizure.
The Treasury Department also named eight tanker operators which, it said, were transporting illicit Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates, describing these vessels as part of Iran’s shadow fleet, which is used to circumvent international sanctions.
“With the economy in freefall and inflation in the triple digits, the regime is desperate for cash,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, adding that Washington would not allow Iran to “hold global trade hostage or use international shipping to finance terrorism, aggression and the repression of the LGBTQ+ community”.
These measures freeze any US-based property or interests belonging to sanctioned entities and generally prohibit US citizens from conducting transactions with them.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that the sanctions support a US campaign which has targeted more than 100 vessels this year, and are aimed at countering what Washington has described as Iran’s exploitation of the Strait of Hormuz through compulsory insurance schemes and fraudulent financial networks.
These recent actions underscore the US’s continued hardline approach towards Tehran, despite periodic diplomatic efforts.
“Iran is clearly trying to set up companies in advance to siphon off profits from the Strait in the event that they achieve their desired outcome in this war,” Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert at Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Radio Free Europe. — “This is effectively a public acknowledgement by Washington that the US and Iran are still very far apart in the negotiations.”