US Treasury Issues New Batch of Sanctions on Tankers Linked to Iranian Oil Trade

The US Department of Treasury March 26 sanctioned additional actors and tankers that have helped ship Iranian commodities to fund the activities of Iran and its proxy groups in the region, the sixth round of sanctions targeting a key Houthi rebel financial facilitator.

"The United States will continue to take action to disrupt the abuse of international energy markets to facilitate terrorist activities," Brian Nelson, undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial Intelligence, said in a statement.

The new sanctions target the network of Houthi financial facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal, the Treasury statement said. The network uses a web of companies and ships to move Iranian commodities through forged shipping documents and other deceptive practices, the Treasury statement said.

The sanctions are not just symbolic, Rachel Ziemba, a senior adviser at political risk consultancy Horizon Engage. "They are making some Iranian cargoes more difficult to get to market and increasing the costs to sell them to China -- the main buyer," she said.

But the sanctions are fairly targeted on fuel cargoes supporting Houthi group and regional partners, not overall Iranian cargoes, Ziemba said. And the jury is still out on whether the sanctions are impairing Houthi group and Iranian finances, she said.

Sanctioned ships

Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the Panama-flagged tanker Dawn II, as well as the tanker's owner, Liberia-based Hassaleh International. The tanker was used to ship Iranian commodities to China, the Treasury statement said.

Since 2022, the Dawn II has carried 2.1 million barrels of crude-condensate from Iran to China in two shipments, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.

OFAC also sanctioned the Palau-flagged tanker Abyss, its Vietnam-based owner Quoc Viet Marine Transport JSC, and its India-based operator Melody Shipmanagement Pvt Ltd, the Treasury statement said.

Since 2019, the Abyss has shipped 3.1 million barrels of crude-condensate from Iran to China in five shipments, according to CAS data.

India based KNH Shipping Private Limited was also sanctioned for providing forged shipping documents to the Sa'id al-Jamal network. "Like the Dawn II, the Abyss utilized forged shipping documents to disguise the Iranian origin of its cargo," the statement said. - S&P Global