The United States has imposed sanctions on more than 50 individuals, companies and vessels allegedly linked to an illicit Iranian sanctions-evasion and oil shipping network, marking a major escalation in Washington's renewed “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
Announced by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the sanctions target the shipping network of Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. The measures blacklist six individuals, including Asghar Aghili Dehkordi and Behzad Moghadas, along with 24 entities and 20 vessels accused of facilitating sanctions evasion through a complex network of financial intermediaries, logistics firms, shipping executives and offshore shell companies.
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According to the Treasury Department, all property and interests belonging to the designated individuals and entities under U.S. jurisdiction will be frozen. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the action is intended to dismantle a key financial network supporting the Iranian government.
“The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines,” Bessent said, adding that the sanctions are aimed at disrupting the financial infrastructure enabling threats to US national security and global shipping.
The sanctions come amid heightened tensions in the Strait of Hormuz following renewed attacks on commercial shipping, which Washington attributes to Iran. The State Department said the targeted network relied on Iranian and foreign nationals, front companies and offshore firms to trade sanctioned goods and channel the proceeds back to Tehran.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the sanctions were aimed at dismantling Shamkhani's "illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network", which Washington alleges has facilitated sanctions evasion and supported Iran's attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian regime has chosen to pursue destabilizing violence instead of dialogue. In response, The U.S. is imposing sanctions on more than 50 individuals, entities, and vessels that enable illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network, which is a major force behind Iran's oil…
— Tommy Pigott (@statedeptspox) July 14, 2026
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