WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The Trump Administration is intensifying pressure on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by targeting the financial networks that enable its illicit oil operations.
Monday, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on a network involved in selling and shipping Iranian oil to overseas buyers, including China, on behalf of IRGC, and three senior officials from its Shahid Purja'fari Oil Headquarters who coordinate these illicit transactions.
The designated Iranian individuals are Ahmad Mohammadi Zadeh, the chief of the IRGC Shahid Purja'fari Oil Headquarters; Samad Fathi Salami, its finance chief; and Mohammadreza Ashrafi Ghehi, the commercial chief of IRGC's oil headquarters.
The conmpanies sanctioned by the United States are Hong Kong-based Hong Kong Blue Ocean Limited and Hong Kong Sanmu Limited, which are cover companies that arrange the sale and shipment of Iranian oil to overseas buyer; Dubai-based Ocean Allianz Shipping LLC and Sharjah-based Atic Energy FZE; Oman-based Zeus Logistics Group; Hong Kong-based Jiandi HK Limited; Hong Kong-based Max Honor International Trade Co., Limited; Dubai-based Blanca Goods Wholesaler LLC; and Dubai-based Universal Fortune Trading LLC.
The IRGC relies on front companies in permissive economic jurisdictions to obfuscate its role in oil sales and funnel the revenue to the Iranian regime. Instead of using this revenue to support the struggling Iranian people, the regime directs it toward weapons development, backing terrorist proxies, and funding security forces that suppress citizens' freedoms, the Treasury said.
'As Iran's military desperately tries to regroup, Economic Fury will continue to deprive the regime of funding for its weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,' said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. 'Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and to destabilize the global economy.'
Treasury said it is also prepared to take action against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and may impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate Iran's activities - including those connected to China's independent 'teapot' oil refineries.
Separately, the U.S. Department of State's Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of IRGC and its branches.
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