The US says it has sanctioned maritime insurance companies linked to the IRGC and several oil tankers

The US says it has sanctioned maritime insurance companies linked to the IRGC and several oil tankers

🔸The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed another round of Iran-related sanctions and targeted eight oil tankers and 10 entities.

🔸According to a statement from the ministry, six of the sanctioned entities are based in China.

🔸The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also sanctioned two companies that, according to the Treasury Department, have a “key role” in an extortion scheme supported by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz. In this scheme, commercial ships are forced to buy “compulsory” maritime insurance to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

🔸In the Treasury Department statement, it is stated that this insurance coverage is apparently provided to protect ships against risks such as seizure, but these risks are mainly created by Iran itself.

🔸According to the ministry, the Iranian government sells insurance policies approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps through the “Persian Gulf Maritime Insurance Company” and the “Hormuz Safe Maritime Services Organization” in order to generate revenue from ships under the coverage of providing maritime services, and the two companies are therefore sanctioned.

🔸The scheme also includes receiving payments in the form of digital assets (cryptocurrencies) to bypass sanctions; an action that allows Iran to intensify its control over shipping activities and transfer more financial resources to the operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

🔸Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, said: “With the economy in free fall and inflation reaching three-digit figures, the Iranian government is in desperate need of money. The United States will not allow Iran to hold global commerce hostage or to use international shipping to finance terrorism, aggressive actions, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ crackdowns.”

🔸The sanctions were imposed hours after Donald Trump, the US president, in an interview with Fox News and after the announcement by the US Army that it was tracking several ballistic missiles fired by Iran toward American forces in the Middle East, promised that it would deliver a hard blow to Iran.