Washington, D.C. — n currency as Tehran seeks to rebuild depleted forces following its defeat in the 12-Day War with Israel. Officials said the action is aimed at constraining Iran’s ability to fund both its nuclear activities and regional proxy groups.
“Today’s action continues Treasury’s campaign to cut off funding for the Iranian regime’s development of nuclear weapons and support of terrorist proxies,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “Disrupting the Iranian regime’s revenue is critical to helping curb its nuclear ambitions.”
OFAC is designating multiple companies and six additional tankers linked to what officials describe as Iran’s “shadow fleet,” a network of vessels used to transport sanctioned oil while concealing its origin. The Trump administration has now sanctioned more than 170 vessels involved in shipping Iranian petroleum and petroleum products, which Treasury says has increased costs for Iranian exporters and reduced revenue per barrel.
The core of Thursday’s action focuses on Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company (Sepehr Energy Jahan), an oil-sales arm of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff. According to Treasury, Sepehr Energy Jahan relies on front companies and specialty shipping firms to charter shadow fleet tankers and move crude to buyers in Asia and elsewhere.
Among those designated are UAE-based Luan Bird Shipping Service L.L.C. and Mars Investment L.L.C., Panama-based Loire Shipping Inc., and Greece-based Altomare S.A., which Treasury says arranged or financed charters for several already-sanctioned vessels, including the BOREAS, SIRI, OXIS, BALU, ROC, HECATE, and HEBE (now operating as DAKSHA), as well as the KALLISTA. These entities are designated under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, for materially assisting Sepehr Energy Jahan, and KALLISTA is identified as property in which Altomare S.A. has an interest.
Treasury also designated additional front companies that serve broader roles in Iran’s oil supply chain. UAE-based Moon Line Plastics and Raw Materials Trading L.L.C. allegedly acted as a shipper of Iranian military oil cargoes and helped disguise Iranian crude as Malaysian heavy crude. Moon Line is designated under E.O. 13224 for acting on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan.
Other service providers cited include UAE-based Alsafeenah Althahabya Ship and Boats Spare Parts and Components Trading L.L.C., also known as Golden Argo Marine Services Co., which Treasury says conducted ship-to-ship transfer operations for sanctioned National Iranian Tanker Company vessels in the Persian Gulf, and India-based RN Ship Management Private Limited, which operated multiple vessels transporting Iranian oil. Alsafeenah and RN Ship Management are designated under E.O. 13224 for supporting Sepehr Energy Jahan; RN Ship Management leaders Zair Husain Iqbal Husain Sayed and Zulfikar Hussain Rizvi Sayed are separately designated as officials of a sanctioned entity.
The action further targets intermediaries Treasury says arranged large purchases of Iranian crude despite U.S. sanctions. Germany-based BPT Berlin Petroleum Trading GmbH and UAE-based Shandong Independent Energy Trading DMCC allegedly pursued deals worth millions of barrels of oil through Sepehr Energy Jahan-linked fronts, using sanctioned tankers such as the PANDA and facilitating ship-to-ship transfers near Malaysia and in the Singapore Eastern Outer Port Limits.
A number of individual facilitators and managers associated with Sepehr Energy Jahan’s network are also sanctioned. Treasury said Iranian nationals Hamidreza Heidari, Mohammad Moloudi, Kaveh Rostami Zahabi, Ahmad Ghaedi, and Sayyed Mojtaba Hosseini, alongside Bulgarian national Penka Ivanova Madzharska, provided technical, financial, logistical, and banking support, including coordinating cryptocurrency movements, manipulating vessel tracking data, falsifying shipping documents, and arranging European financial access.
Beyond the oil network, OFAC is expanding sanctions related to Iran’s shadow fleet and its use of maritime logistics to reach end users in East and South Asia. Liberia-registered Pioneer Tankers Marine Incorporated, owner of the Palau-flagged PIONEER SAM, is designated under E.O. 13902 for operating in Iran’s petroleum sector. Treasury says PIONEER SAM transported more than 10 million barrels of Iranian fuel oil in the last two years and delivered tens of millions of dollars’ worth of product to the UAE on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company. The vessel is identified as blocked property of Pioneer Tankers Marine Incorporated.
Panama-based Thasos Maritime and Trading S.A., Serifos Maritime and Trading S.A., Tilos Maritime and Trading S.A., and Corfu Maritime and Trading S.A. are also designated under E.O. 13902 as owners or operators of vessels that moved millions of barrels of Iranian liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and other products, largely to South Asian customers. Their vessels—the TUSITALA, NEXO, KAISA I, and GAS ATHENA—are blocked as property of sanctioned entities. Treasury links these tankers to the LPG fleet of previously sanctioned Iranian oil magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh.
The sanctions package additionally targets Iranian airline Mahan Air and its subsidiary Yazd International Airways Company for support to Iran-backed terrorist groups. Treasury said Yazd Airways aircraft have been used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force (IRGC-QF) to move personnel and weapons to Lebanese Hizballah and into Syria in support of the former Bashar al-Assad regime. Yazd Airways is designated under E.O. 13224, as amended, along with its managing director Reza Heidari and vice chairman Reza Namakshenas.
Treasury also highlighted Mahan Air’s procurement of Western aircraft through foreign front companies. Mahan Air operations manager Mohammad Mahdi Maghfoori and pilot Mohammad Reza Moaref Jahromi are sanctioned as officials acting for or on behalf of Mahan Air. Gambia-based Macka Invest Company Limited is designated for helping Mahan Air acquire Airbus A340 aircraft from Lithuania. Multiple aircraft—EP-MJA, EP-MJE, EP-MJG, EP-MMU, EP-MEB, EP-MEH, and EP-MJF—are identified as blocked property in which Mahan Air has an interest.
Thursday’s actions are taken primarily under E.O. 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists and those providing support to terrorism, and E.O. 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors. Treasury said the designations advance the administration’s maximum economic pressure policy under National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2).
As a result of the designations, all property and interests in property of the sanctioned persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also considered blocked. U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving designated individuals and entities unless authorized by OFAC, and foreign persons risk potential sanctions exposure by facilitating significant transactions for them.
Treasury emphasized that violations of U.S. sanctions may trigger civil or criminal penalties, and it encouraged financial institutions and companies worldwide to review OFAC guidance and enforcement policies when assessing their exposure to Iran-related transactions.
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