U.S. Strikes Iran with Sweeping Sanctions
(MENAFN) In its most extensive move against Iran in years, the United States on Wednesday unveiled sanctions targeting over 100 individuals, companies, and ships linked to what officials described as a sprawling maritime operation overseen by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani—the son of Ali Shamkhani, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
According to the US Treasury, Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani leveraged his father's powerful political ties to build a global shipping network responsible for transporting billions of dollars in Iranian and Russian oil and petroleum products. The operation, officials allege, relied on a complex web of front companies to conceal transactions, circumvent international sanctions, and launder money.
The sweeping measures hit 12 individuals—including nationals from France, the UK, and Italy—alongside 52 vessels and 15 shipping firms, one of which is based in Switzerland.
"The Shamkhani family’s shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime’s dangerous behavior,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “These actions put America first by targeting regime elites that profit while Tehran threatens the safety of the US.”
Described by US officials as the largest Iran-related sanctions package since 2018, the move marks a major escalation in President Donald Trump's revived "maximum pressure" policy aimed at halting Iran's uranium enrichment program. The announcement comes on the heels of recent joint US-Israeli airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities located in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Tehran swiftly condemned the sanctions. On Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed the measures as illegal and accused Washington of deliberately targeting Iran’s progress. He called the sanctions a blatant indicator of “the hostility of American policymakers towards the Iranian people,” and claimed their true purpose was to undermine national development.
Western governments have long suspected Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts are a covert attempt to produce nuclear weapons. Iran, however, maintains its program is strictly for civilian use. Officials in Tehran reiterated that they will not yield to pressure, branding the sanctions campaign as coercive and unlawful intimidation.
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