Washington moved to tighten the screws on Iran’s oil trade again on Friday, rolling out a fresh batch of sanctions aimed squarely at the shadow fleet that keeps Tehran’s barrels moving when they’re not supposed to be.
The State Department announced sanctions on 15 entities, two individuals, and 14 vessels tied to the illicit trade in Iranian crude, petroleum products, and petrochemicals. The targets were designated under Executive Order 13846, part of the Trump administration’s revived maximum pressure framework, and are accused of generating revenue used to fund Iran’s external proxy activity and internal repression.
The administration’s message is that if Iranian oil is moving outside the rules, Washington intends to make it more expensive, slower, and riskier to move. The fresh sanctions are designed to directly hit shipping and trading networks that have allowed Iranian barrels to keep flowing despite years of enforcement efforts.
The move lands as Iran escalates its posture in the Persian Gulf, including the seizure of foreign-crewed tankers near Farsi Island earlier this week, and just ahead of loosely defined talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Oman. On the water, Tehran is reminding everyone it can disrupt traffic. On paper, Washington is reminding everyone it can still weaponize access to the global financial and shipping system.
The pressure campaign also comes as Iran’s oil economics look increasingly fragile beneath the surface. China is still the primary buyer of Iranian oil, but at discounted prices. Ship-to-ship transfers, tanker reflagging, and longer voyages have allowed the oil to move, but those measures have eaten into Iran’s profits. Meanwhile, Venezuelan crude is re-entering the market under U.S. oversight, giving buyers a sanction-free alternative.
It’s still unclear whether the latest round of sanctions will actually force a policy shift, but each new designation raises the cost of doing business, and in oil markets, higher friction always shows up somewhere on the balance sheet.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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