Overview
- The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority on Friday, freezing assets under U.S. jurisdiction and barring U.S. persons from dealing with them.
- Treasury said the firms sold mandatory maritime “insurance” that covered risks such as vessel seizure and forced ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz to buy protection for threats it says Iran largely created.
- Officials said HormuzSafe accepted Bitcoin and other digital assets as part of an effort to evade Western sanctions and that revenue from the scheme was routed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
- OFAC also sanctioned eight shipping companies and blocked eight oil tankers accused of moving millions of barrels of Iranian crude and petroleum products, expanding a 2026 campaign against Iran’s shadow fleet.
- The designations increase secondary U.S. sanctions risk for foreign shipowners, insurers and crypto counterparties and aim to limit Iran’s leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, a global oil chokepoint that can affect markets and trade.