US Sanctions Iran's Oil Fleet After Oman Talks

The United States imposed sanctions on Friday targeting 14 vessels, 15 entities, and two individuals accused of facilitating Iran's illicit oil exports, hours after indirect talks between American and Iranian officials concluded in Oman. The measures, announced by the State Department, aim to disrupt what Washington describes as a shadow fleet used to evade international restrictions on Tehran's petroleum and petrochemical trade.

The sanctions block any U.S.-related transactions with the designated parties and require reporting of their assets to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Among the targeted vessels are tankers flagged in countries including Turkey, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Liberia, which U.S. officials say have transported millions of barrels of Iranian crude through deceptive practices such as ship-to-ship transfers and flag changes. Entities sanctioned include ship management companies in China, Hong Kong, and the UAE, as well as traders in Turkey that handled Iranian petrochemicals valued at over 8 million dollars in 2024. An India-based firm, Elevate Marine Management Private Limited, and its director, Akash Anant Shinde, were...