US targets Iran ‘shadow fleet’ operations with more sanctions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States issued new sanctions targeting Iran’s “shadow fleet” on Thursday, citing one individual and India- and United Arab Emirates-based groups whose vessels have transported Iranian oil.

The Treasury Department cited United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Indian national Jugwinder Singh Brar, who owns shipping companies with a fleet of nearly 30 vessels.

“Brar’s vessels engage in high-risk ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of Iranian petroleum in waters off Iraq, Iran, the UAE, and the Gulf of Oman,” the department said in a statement.

The sanctions also target two UAE- and two India-based entities that own and operate Brar’s vessels that have transported Iranian oil on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company and the Iranian military, Treasury said in a statement.

“The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade.”

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Costas Pitas)