WASHINGTON--The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on 29 vessels and their management firms as Washington targeted Tehran's "shadow fleet", which it says exports Iranian petroleum and petroleum products.
The targeted vessels and companies have transported hundreds of millions of dollars of the products through deceptive shipping practices, the U.S. Treasury said.
The shadow fleet refers to ships that carry oil that is under sanctions. They are typically old, their ownership opaque and they sail without the top-tier insurance cover needed to meet international standards for oil majors and many ports.
Treasury will "continue to deprive the regime of the petroleum revenue it uses to fund its military and weapons programs," John Hurley, the department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a release. Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. says it imposes sanctions on Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme and its support of militant proxies across the Middle East. Iran says its nuclear work is for civil purposes. Tensions between Tehran and Washington heightened 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 U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites.
Thursday's action also targets Egyptian businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, whose companies are associated with seven of the vessels cited, as well as multiple shipping companies.
