More Shipping & Engineering Companies with Iran Ties Sanctioned by U.S.

The United States Treasury Department has announced sanctions against two Malta-based shipping companies, as well as two shipping officials tied to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).

These sanctions have been imposed on the basis that the shipping lines have played an instrumental part in Iran’s efforts to advance its missile programs and transporting other military cargoes, according to the Treasury Department. CNN reports that these individuals and companies were sanctioned under an executive order freezing the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters.

The sanctions follow U.S. sanctions against three Iranian officials, a trading company, and a shipping agent for supporting the Quds Force, an elite special operations unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard, just a day earlier.

The Treasury Department has lastly sanctioned two engineering firms, Iran Maritime Industrial Company SADRA and its subsidiary, Deep Offshore Technology PJS. The reasoning again is for their connections and involvement with the previously mentioned elite Iranian military unit that has been branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.