On April 10, 2025, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a UAE-based Indian national who owns multiple shipping companies operating a shadow fleet of nearly 30 vessels linked to Iranian oil trade.
According to OFAC, many of these ships are part of Iran’s so-called “shadow fleet” and have been involved in transporting Iranian oil for the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Iran’s military. These vessels have conducted high-risk ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters near Iraq, Iran, the UAE, and the Gulf of Oman.
The oil is then passed to intermediaries who disguise its origin through blending and falsified shipping documents, allowing it to enter the international market undetected.
These actions are part of a broader U.S. campaign, under Executive Orders 13902 and 13846, to disrupt Iran’s oil export network, which helps fund its destabilizing activities. The State Department also sanctioned additional companies and identified two vessels as blocked property due to their involvement in Iran’s petroleum trade.
The sanctions also target several associated entities based in the UAE and India.
