On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned 17 oil tankers for activities related to the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and petrochemical products from Iran. These sanctions have been described as an effort to strike at what Washington calls Iran's "shadow fleet."
Details of the Sanctions
According to the Department of the Treasury, the goal of these sanctions is to cut off Iran's financial resources for military and security activities, including warfare, missile development, and cyberattacks. Scott Basset, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, introduced this action as an effort to neutralize a significant portion of the remaining network of Iran's shadow fleet.
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In this round of sanctions, in addition to the 17 oil tankers, the companies owning these tankers have also been sanctioned due to their activities in Iran's oil or petrochemical sectors. These sanctions have been imposed as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated since late February, with conflicts spreading to parts of the region.
Economic Consequences of the Sanctions
Sanctioning the oil tankers could increase the costs and risks of transporting and selling Iranian oil, while also limiting their access to the U.S. financial network. However, a U.S. Treasury official stated that approximately 20 million barrels of Iranian crude oil remain on tankers outside the reach of U.S. sanctions, near Singapore, Malaysia, and China. According to this official, Iran has halted the loading and unloading of crude oil tankers due to the sanctions and blockade.
The new U.S. sanctions are part of an effort to pressure Iran to change its behaviors in military and political arenas. Additionally, these sanctions come in the wake of recent developments in international relations, especially after Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced no plans for a new attack on Iran.
In this context, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has also targeted the cryptocurrency exchange "Bitbank," which is controlled by Babak Zanjani, stating that Zanjani has used this exchange to facilitate the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Washington views this action as part of the infrastructure for evading sanctions and money laundering that Zanjani has created.
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