U.S. Sanctions Law Firm Accused Of Setting Up Iran Shadow Fleet Shipping Companies

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced a new wave of sanctions under Operation Economic Outcast, targeting a law firm based in Greece and Panama.

Federal authorities have blamed the company for providing legal assistance to Iranian shipping networks and entities for several years.

The firm is accused of using its legal expertise and administrative practices to register many shipping companies that operated and managed shadow fleet vessels, which carried Iranian-origin cargo such as crude oil, petroleum products, steel, and petrochemicals across the world, thus violating sanctions against the Islamic Republic that were imposed by the U.S. and the West.

The U.S. Treasury Department also identified 5 high-profile individuals who helped the firm conceal the true owners of these maritime companies.

The law firm had earlier established 3 shipping businesses that were involved in the Iranian oil trade, per the Office of Foreign Assets Control. The latest move extends to another Panama- and Greece-based company for which the law firm worked as a corporate agent.

Authorities handling the case found this shipping enterprise to be the manager and operator of at least 7 ships, 3 of which carried Iranian cargo last year.

Thus, given these findings and additional evidence, all 7 cargo ships have been sanctioned and declared blocked property under U.S. law.

The Treasury Department also added several shipping agents in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates to its sanctions registry for helping Iran conduct its oil trade.

The Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said that any company or professional helping Iran to evade sanctions, whether through direct assistance in maritime oil transfers or offering legal support from an office, would face severe consequences and risk getting excluded from the U.S. financial system.

The crackdown goes beyond the law firm and the companies it represents to secondary support networks aiding Iranian trade at a time when the U.S. is trying to exert maximum pressure on Tehran to come to the negotiating table.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has begun another investigation by issuing an administrative subpoena to a Greek commercial bank regarding its potential links to Iran and its regional allies and supporters.
FinCEN has sent formal information requests to other international banks and financial institutions as well, about their relations with sanctioned Iranian companies.