The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a network of companies, ships and individuals tied to Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, an Iranian oil trader whose business empire has become a major conduit for Iran’s sanctioned petroleum exports.
Shamkhani is the son of the late Ali Shamkhani, a longtime senior security official who served for years as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and remained an influential figure in the country’s leadership.
The Treasury Department said the measures target a sprawling web of shipping and logistics firms that it says help move Iranian oil around international sanctions, generating billions of dollars in revenue for Tehran while enriching figures linked to Iran’s political elite.
“Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
American officials said the network relied on front companies across several countries, including the United Arab Emirates, India and the Marshall Islands, along with a fleet of oil and gas tankers used to transport Iranian and Russian petroleum products.
The measures also targeted a separate financial network tied to Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi, an Iranian national whom US officials accuse of helping facilitate oil smuggling and gold transfers linked to Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The action comes at a delicate moment in the long-running standoff between Washington and Tehran.
American and Iranian officials are currently exploring ways to extend a fragile ceasefire after weeks of conflict, and diplomats from several regional countries have been quietly pushing both sides toward a broader agreement.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said that any deal would have to include relief from US sanctions that have battered the country’s economy.
Despite those diplomatic efforts, the new sanctions underscore Washington’s continued reliance on economic pressure against Iranian networks involved in oil sales and financing activities tied to the government and its allies.
