The Trump administration unveiled sweeping new sanctions on an international network of entities feeding Iran’s illicit oil enterprise, marking the opening salvo in a fresh U.S. drive to zero out Tehran's crude exports.
The sanctions, which the Treasury and State departments jointly announced on Thursday, target a constellation of companies and ships ferrying oil on behalf of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, Tehran's most senior military body. The smuggling operation brings in "hundreds of millions of dollars" to Iran, the Treasury Department said in a press release. A front company for the Iranian military, identified as Sepehr Energy, offloads most of the illicit oil in China, the Treasury Department said.
The international nature of the scheme is reflected in the sanctions, which target "individuals in multiple jurisdictions," including China, India, and the United Arab Emirates, the Treasury Department said.
The sanctions reflect the Trump administration's more aggressive approach to combating Iran and its ability to generate revenue used in large part for terror operations throughout the Middle East.
Iran raked in more than $140 billion in illicit oil profits during the Biden administration thanks to its perennially lax enforcement of sanctions on both Iran and its network of regional affiliates. President Donald Trump formally reversed course on Tuesday, when he directed the Treasury and State departments to pursue a "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran. Thursday’s actions are the first step to fulfilling that directive.
"The Iranian regime remains focused on leveraging its oil revenues to fund the development of its nuclear program, to produce its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and to support its regional terrorist proxy groups," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities."
Iran generates billions of dollars each year through illicit oil sales to a host of malign regimes, including China, Venezuela, and other nations. This cash enables Iran to fund its regional terror proxy group—including Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen—as they wage war on Israel, particularly in the wake of Oct. 7.
A large portion of Iran’s illicit oil activities is driven by the nation's Armed Forces General Staff, which enlists a network "of foreign-based front companies and brokers to enable these oil sales and shipments," according to the Treasury Department.
In addition to Sepehr Energy, the Trump administration slapped sanctions on several oil tankers and maritime firms that help ferry Iran’s crude around the globe. This includes the Comoros-flagged ship known as the SIRI, which is currently "operating off the coast of Singapore laden with millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil." The India-based Marshal Ship Management Private Limited also was sanctioned for providing crew members to the SIRI and other Sepehr Energy vessels.
"Crew members provided by Marshal Ship Management Private Limited have aided Sepehr Energy in falsifying shipping documents and presenting those documents to port authorities," the Treasury Department said.
Additional sanctions targeted known members of Tehran’s so-called shadow fleet, a network of ships that obfuscate their position at sea and turn off their trackers in order to evade detection. This fleet carried around $22 billion in illicit oil to China from 2021 to 2022.
The Panama-flagged CH BILLION and Hong Kong-flagged STAR FOREST ships are also named as part of the Trump administration’s new sanctions.
"As recently as January 2025, these vessels onboarded Iranian crude oil from storage in the PRC, part of a scheme involving Iran’s military, which stands to profit from the sale of the oil on these vessels," according to the Treasury Department.
The two companies responsible for operating the ships—Hong Kong’s Young Folks International Trading Co., Limited and the PRC-based Lucky Ocean Shipping Limited—were also sanctioned as part of Thursday's actions.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the sanctions send a message that America "will not tolerate Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior."
"We will use all tools at our disposal to hold the regime accountable for its destabilizing activities and pursuit of nuclear weapons that threaten the civilized world," she said.