The Treasury Department sanctioned 17 tankers operating as part of Iran's so-called shadow fleet, the network of vessels Tehran uses to move oil while evading international sanctions, the agency announced Tuesday.
The action targets ships the U.S. says generate revenue that funds Iranian military operations across the Middle East. Treasury officials framed the sanctions as part of a broader campaign to cut off the money flowing to Tehran.
"Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable this activity," a Treasury spokesperson said in a statement announcing the designations.
The sanctions freeze any U.S.-held assets of the named vessels and bar American companies and individuals from doing business with them. Foreign banks and shipping firms that continue handling the tankers' cargoes risk losing access to the U.S. financial system, the primary enforcement lever Treasury uses against sanctions evaders.
Iran's shadow fleet typically consists of aging tankers that turn off transponders, conduct ship-to-ship transfers at sea and falsify documentation to disguise the origin of crude oil. The practice has expanded since the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iranian oil exports in 2018, with much of the crude ultimately reaching buyers in China.
The timing of the announcement puts additional pressure on global oil markets already strained by conflict in the Middle East. The war has pushed gasoline prices higher in the U.S. ahead of November's midterm elections, a political liability for the party holding the White House.
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at roughly $3.80 as of this week, according to AAA, up sharply from earlier in the year. Energy analysts have attributed much of the increase to uncertainty over supply routes through the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil passes.
Past rounds of Treasury designations against Iran's oil network have drawn criticism from some analysts who argue the measures have limited effect because Tehran has built parallel shipping and banking channels that operate outside U.S. reach. The shadow fleet itself emerged as a direct response to earlier sanctions, suggesting each new round of designations pushes Iran toward more elaborate evasion methods.
Treasury has sanctioned dozens of tankers linked to Iranian oil since 2022, coordinating in some cases with the European Union and the United Kingdom. The department has not released the names of all 17 vessels in a consolidated public list.
