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The U.S. Treasury Department is sanctioning 17 additional vessels it says are connected to Iran's "shadow fleet" used to transport oil and gas out of the country, as Washington tries to choke Tehran's economy to end the war that began over seven months ago. The new sanctions are part of "Operation Economic Outcast," the name given to the U.S. pressure campaign against Iran. The new designations are aimed at further limiting Iran's ability to transport and profit from petroleum and petrochemicals. "Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime's oil sales," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. "No enabler of Iranian sanctions evasion is safe from the full force of Treasury's authorities." The new vessels being sanctioned are registered under more than a dozen jurisdictions, and Treasury said in a press release they are responsible for the transport of millions of barrels of Iranian crude, petroleum and petrochemical products. The U.S. has long said Iran uses illicit oil revenues to fund its regime and related terror proxies and hopes to cripple Tehran's economy by stemming that revenue. All the vessels targeted by the sanctions are newly designated. And though the specific action announced Thursday is not expected to cause massive changes in Iran's economy on its own, Treasury said it is targeting the "remnants" of Iran's shadow fleet to complement existing sanctions aimed at limiting Iran's ability to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and sustain its regime. The vessels targeted include the Vanuatu-flagged TINA 5, which Treasury says transported over 1.5 million barrels of Iranian crude in August; the Comoros-flagged LPG tanker SOGL, which Treasury says has moved more than two million barrels of Iranian propane and butane since September 2025; and the Cameroon-flagged crude oil tanker SHENZHEN, which Treasury says has moved more than 3.5 million barrels of Iranian crude oil since November 2025. A Treasury official said Iran has stopped loading and offloading oil due to the ongoing U.S. blockade of the country's ports. Kpler data says Tehran has not loaded any crude oil for export since Aug. 25. The U.S. war with Iran has greatly disrupted the global economy, whipsawing oil and gas prices as Iran has sought to hold the Strait of Hormuz shut. The channel is one of the most crucial gateways for moving oil and gas out of the Gulf region. The war has also caused gasoline prices to spike in the U.S. ahead of November's midterm election. The national average for gasoline on Thursday was $4.36 per gallon, according to AAA. — CNBC's Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
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