🔶 Fresh US sanctions against Iran-backed proxy groups

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday, September 10, that it has sanctioned 14 individuals and five companies and entities in Iraq, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and Turkey.

According to the agency, these individuals and organizations have played a role in supporting Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, transferring financial resources, procuring equipment, and evading Iran sanctions. The move comes as Washington steps up its campaign to economically isolate Iran.

The new sanctions are part of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) plan, known as the “economic eviction operation,” which the Treasury launched on August 24, 2026, at the order of Donald Trump, the U.S. president.

The U.S. Treasury said the goal of this operation is to cut off the economic lifelines of the Iranian government and target networks and income sources linked to smuggling oil, evading sanctions, and financing activities sought by this ministry.

As reported by Reuters, citing a U.S. official: “The U.S. Treasury Department’s campaign has imposed severe pressure on Iran’s economy, and the U.S. maritime blockade has also limited Tehran’s ability to transfer oil.”

According to the official, Iran’s oil loading volume over the past 30 days has decreased to about 200,000 barrels per day, while in the months of January and February it was 1.8 million barrels per day.

The official claims that the amount of oil offloaded has fallen from 1.4 million barrels per day before the war to 900,000 barrels per day.

He said that the price of foodstuffs in Iran has risen sharply and the value of the rial against the U.S. dollar has fallen by about 30% since the start of the war.

In a statement, OFAC also said that in most cases it will reject requests related to licenses for activities connected to Iran—unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The office said that the “licensing division” of the agency has started the process of rejecting “by far the vast majority” of Iran-related requests.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department, this policy will continue until Iran creates a “change” in its behavior; including with regard to what the U.S. calls “obstruction in the Strait of Hormuz, attacks on U.S. forces and its partners in the Persian Gulf region, and the pursuit of nuclear weapons.”