U.S. Sanctions 18 Entities, Vessels & Individuals Involved In Illegal Iranian Oil Shipments

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on 18 entities, vessels, and individuals involved in transporting illegal Iranian oil, directly supporting Houthi militias.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted a network associated with Sa’id al-Jamal, a key financial facilitator for the Houthis and backed by the IRGC-QF.

Revenue from these illegal oil shipments funds violent Houthi activities, including missile and drone attacks on Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea.

The sanctioned network operates across multiple countries, using front companies and vessels to transport Iranian oil, camouflaging its origins.

Companies like Changtai Shipping, which owns the crude oil tanker KAPOK, have been implicated in moving over a million barrels of Iranian oil in 2023 for the al-Jamal network.

Ukrainian, Turkish, and Indian nationals managing vessels involved in these shipments, such as LIANA and TROPHY, have also been sanctioned, with their assets blocked.

The sanctions extend to ship captains who facilitated oil transfers between sanctioned vessels, exposing the breadth of the illicit network.

These sanctions are part of a broader U.S. effort to disrupt the illegal oil trade funding Houthi militias, aiming to cut off the financial lifeline for further destabilizing actions in the region.