The U.S. government announced sanctions on Thursday against Mohsen Paknejad, the Iranian oil minister, and against three entities and three vessels “to stop the flow of revenue the Iranian regime uses to finance its destabilizing activities,” the U.S. State Department stated.
“These entities provide services to the ghost fleet vessels conducting ship-to-ship transfer operations outside port limits in Southeast Asia, and enabling Iran’s attempts to disguise its illicit oil trade,” stated Tammy Bruce, the State Department spokeswoman.
“The Iranian regime and its military are stealing the nation’s oil wealth with the help of Mohsen Paknejad, the head of Iran’s Oil Ministry,” Bruce stated. “Today’s action advances President Trump’s policy of maximum pressure on the Iranian regime” to “end Iran’s nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program and stop it from supporting or rebuilding its terrorist proxy groups, including by driving Iran’s oil exports to zero—especially oil exports to China.”
“The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” stated Scott Bessent, the U.S. treasury secretary. “Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda.”
The Treasury Department stated that Paknejad oversees tens of billions of dollars in Iranian oil exports “and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export.” The department also designated Chinese and Indian entities that own or operate ships that deliver Iranian oil to China, it said.
AIPAC applauded the sanctions. “This action will help shut off a major source of cash to the regime,” the pro-Israel group stated. “The bipartisan SHIP Act, passed by Congress last year, mandated that the owners of the ports and refineries that processed oil from the shadow fleet of tankers must also be sanctioned.”
“As Iran races toward a nuclear weapon, it’s imperative that the United States fully enforces maximum pressure on the regime, including by implementing the SHIP Act and sanctioning any person involved in the Iranian oil trade,” AIPAC added.
