US Adds Sanctions on Tankers and Iranian Oil Awaiting Trump’s Decision
The United States Treasury and Department of State continued with their efforts of “maximum pressure” with sanctions on Iran as the decision on the new ceasefire to end the war was reportedly near. The United States has been increasing the financial pressure through sanctions and the blockade in an effort to bring Iran to the negotiations and win favorable terms.
Donald Trump said he would be meeting with his advisers on Friday to review the status of the agreement. They said he would be making a “final determination,” although the Iranian said terms have not yet been reached.
U.S. forces continue to enforce the blockade against Iran. CENTCOM said as of May 29, a total of 115 commercial vessels have been redirected to “ensure no commerce enters or leaves Iranian ports.” TankerTrackers.com said on Wednesday that it calculated that “There are close to 60 million barrels of Iranian crude oil trapped by the U.S. Navy blockade. That is nearly $6 billion in oil revenue that currently is not reaching Tehran.”
The Department of State on Thursday reported it was increasing the sanctions to reduce the revenue that the Iranian regime receives. It said it was adding eight tankers and the companies involved in their operations, as well as three energy traders. Concurrently, Treasury reported it was sanctioning an oil sales network that facilitated the movement of tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil. They asserted the funds were being funneled to the IRGC, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, and its military apparatus.
The sanctions were extended to ship managers based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, and a shipping company registered in the Marshall Islands. The tankers included both product and crude oil vessels, and they ranged from registries in Palau to the Marshall Islands, Panama, Comoros, Cameroon, and San Marino.
The NGO UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran) tracks around 200 tankers that have been sanctioned since 2020. It says that about one-in-three of the nearly 600 vessels it has tracked over the past six years involved in the Iranian oil trade.
The U.S. State Department also imposed sanctions on three traders of Iranian-origin petrochemical products. It included a trader based in Qatar, a Singapore-based company that it says was involved in the export of over $900 thousand worth of Iranian petrochemical products, and an India-based trader that it says imported approximately $54.6 million of Iranian petrochemical products.
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Iran is believed to be pushing not only for the end of the U.S. blockade but also for an end to these sanction programs.
Trump, on social media on Friday, listed three conditions, Iran’s nuclear program, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and all sea mines destroyed. Reports indicate the ceasefire would be for 60 days, during which time negotiations would proceed on the enriched uranium and to finalize the terms of the agreement.