On May 13, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on nearly two dozen entities involved in Iran’s illicit oil trade.
These sanctions target firms operating across multiple jurisdictions that facilitate oil sales used by Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) to fund ballistic missile development, unmanned aerial vehicles, and regional terrorist groups. The action, taken under Executive Order 13224 (as amended), reinforces the U.S. administration’s ongoing maximum pressure campaign against Iran’s regime.
According to OFAC, Iran’s government, through its oil sector and affiliated commercial arms, uses a global network of front companies and deceptive practices such as ship-to-ship transfers, oil blending, and falsified documentation to disguise the origin of its crude oil and deliver it to foreign buyers. Revenues from these sales are funneled back to Iran’s military leadership, with financial operatives and logistics agents managing shipments, port access, and storage in coordination with complicit local partners.
Today’s action underscores our continued focus on intensifying pressure on every aspect of Iran’s oil trade, which the regime uses to fund its dangerous and destabilizing activities,
… said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent
The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets of designated persons and prohibit transactions with them by U.S. persons. The designations also carry the risk of secondary sanctions for foreign entities that engage in significant transactions with the sanctioned actors.
OFAC reiterated that the purpose of sanctions is not only punitive but also intended to drive a change in Iran’s behavior, particularly its support for terrorism and proliferation of weapons.
