US Sanctions False-Flag Network Run from India Used for Iranian Shipping
Continuing its efforts to shut down all the avenues supporting Iran’s shadow fleet, the U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions targeting a network that it says is behind a broad range of false flag operations. Treasury accuses an Indian husband and wife, Suniel Kumar Sharma and Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, of running a web of maritime fraud that provided false flags and certifications to sanctioned vessels involved in transporting Iranian petroleum.
The Treasury Department began the initiative under the name “Operation Economic Outcast” in August 2026, aiming to further go after the networks supporting the Iranian regime. It has included additional targeting of tankers as well as other elements such as money laundering and sanctions evasion. The Treasury Department reports it is working with partners, including the European Union, United Kingdom, and Gulf state partners, to map the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions, and fund terror.
The U.S. says the husband-and-wife operation based in Chandigarh, India, is responsible for establishing false flagging authorities and maritime certification societies ranging from Aruba to Guyana, Mali, Mozambique, Malawi, and Sint Maarten and Timor-Leste, as well as the current false organization called Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry, which is actually operated from Singapore. It highlights that Eswatini authorities have publicly disavowed this organization, as have other nations for similar operations. Many of the flags listed are well-known for being associated with false flag tanker operations, both supporting Iran and Russia.
The Indian couple was accused of starting their operation as early as 2014, when the U.S. asserted the couple sought to impersonate the flagging authority of the Caribbean nation of Dominica. They assert that the Sharma network purchases web domains, creating websites that claim to offer a variety of services on behalf of a country that has not authorized it to provide any of those services. The services often include flagging, seafarer training and certification, and vessel classification, all of which are traditionally handled by legitimate organizations that hold vessels to strict international standards.
Sharma, the U.S. reports, established the Singapore-based Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry in 2023. They highlight that despite being publicly disavowed by Eswatini authorities, the group continues to provide flagging services for vessels transporting Iranian petroleum. They also report that the Sharma’s network can be tied to multiple active websites that purport to belong to legitimate flagging registries.
Suniel Kumar Sharma and Jaspreet Preeti Shahid are being listed along with their company, Aryavart Ship Management Private Limited. The United States is also designating Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry.
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In addition, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a new alert to the maritime industry to warn of the sanctions risks of dealing with potentially falsely flagged vessels. It reemphasized previous warnings from Treasury to the maritime industry to screen against unscrupulous actors such as Sharma and the vessels his network supports.
Turkish-based Fugo Ground Services was also sanctioned today by OFAC for its ongoing services in support of Iran’s aviation sector. Treasury said it has repeatedly warned that it will take action against those who continue to support Iran’s aviation industry, and it renewed its warning of “serious consequences” for supporting Iranian efforts.
