Overview
- The Treasury Department, which announced the move Tuesday, sanctioned Iran-based Amin Exchange and named front firms in the UAE, Turkey, and Hong Kong/China that it says move oil proceeds for sanctioned banks.
- Officials also blocked 19 foreign-flagged ships that carry Iranian oil, petrochemicals, and LPG, including the Barbados-flagged Great Sail and the Panama-flagged Swift Falcon.
- Treasury said Iranian exchange houses push billions of dollars a year through the international system and that these networks handled hundreds of millions for state banks and oil entities.
- Treasury framed the action as part of its Economic Fury drive to dismantle Iran’s shadow banking system and shadow fleet that it says fund the IRGC and allied groups.
- The designations freeze property under U.S. jurisdiction, bar Americans from doing business with those listed, and carry a warning of secondary sanctions for foreign firms and banks, including links to China’s independent ‘teapot’ refineries.