The United States sanctions 29 oil tankers from the ‘shadow fleet’ for transporting Iranian oil

The United States continues to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The United States imposed sanctions on 29 ships and their management companies as Washington targets Tehran's ‘shadow fleet,’ which it claims exports Iranian oil and petroleum products.

The ships and companies affected have transported hundreds of millions of dollars worth of petroleum products through deceptive shipping practices, the US Treasury Department said.

The shadow fleet refers to vessels that transport oil subject to sanctions. They are often old, their ownership is opaque, and they sail without the first-class insurance coverage required to comply with the international standards of major oil companies and many ports.

‘The Treasury Department will continue to deprive the regime of the oil revenues it uses to fund its military and weapons programmes,’ John Hurley, the department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

The United States claims to impose sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programme and its support for militant groups in the Middle East. Iran claims that its nuclear activity is for civilian purposes.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington escalated after the two countries engaged in five rounds of indirect nuclear negotiations that ended with a 12-day air war in June, in which Israel and the United States bombed Iranian nuclear facilities.

The action also targets Egyptian businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are associated with seven of the ships mentioned, as well as several shipping companies.

This month, the United States took further action against an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan oil that had originally been sanctioned by Washington for transporting Iranian oil.

On 10 December, the United States seized a tanker known as Skipper off the coast of Venezuela that was carrying crude oil from the South American country, a move that dramatically heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas.

The administration of former President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on the tanker in 2022 for what it said was its involvement in the Iranian oil trade when the ship was called Adisa.