WASHINGTON— Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking additional action against Iran’s military oil sales, which is enabling the regime’s ability to fund the rebuilding of its armed forces and pose continued threats to the United States and its partners in the region. Iran’s military generates revenue through Iranian crude oil sales via an array of front companies to help fund its reconstitution and threaten its neighbors. "The Treasury Department will continue to increase pressure on Iranian oil sales to deprive the Iranian regime and its military of the financial resources it needs to threaten U.S. allies and partners in the Middle East," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. "We will not allow the Iranian government to increase its oil revenue for the purpose of reconstituting its armed forces and military capabilities." Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. It continues Treasury’s robust sanctions campaign targeting Iranian oil sales in support of Economic Fury and the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2), instituting a campaign of maximum economic pressure on Iran. Additionally, the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the IRGC and its various branches. More information is available on the RFJ website. ECONOMIC FURY DELIVERS MAXIMUM PRESSURE ON IRAN The Treasury Department is maintaining maximum pressure on Iran and targeting the regime’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds. Treasury is aggressively advancing Economic Fury and has disrupted tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being otherwise accessible to the Iranian regime and its proxies. This includes actions that have led to the freezing of nearly half a billion dollars in regime-linked cryptocurrency. In addition, Treasury has cracked down on Tehran’s global shadow banking networks; designated networks supplying weapons and other military components to Iran; sanctioned a corrupt Iraqi official who has facilitated the sale of oil along with Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq; taken numerous actions against Iran’s terrorist proxies; and targeted shadow fleet vessels, companies, and other entities that sustain Iran’s illicit oil industry. Through the blockade, the Trump Administration is directly targeting the regime’s primary revenue stream. Any person or vessel facilitating the illicit trade of oil or other commodities, through covert trade or financial channels, risks exposure to U.S. sanctions. Treasury will continue to vigorously target both traditional sanctions evasion schemes and the exploitation of digital assets while continuing to freeze funds stolen from the Iranian people. Treasury is also prepared to take action against any foreign company supporting illicit Iranian commerce, including airlines, and, as necessary, may impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions that facilitate Iran’s activities. Additionally, Treasury recently warned of the sanctions risk associated with complying with Iranian demands for passage through the Strait of Hormuz such as “toll” payments, including payments made via fiat currency, digital assets, offsets, informal swaps, or other in-kind payments such as nominally charitable donations, and providing sensitive vessel information. On May 27, 2026, Treasury designated Iran’s so-called “Persian Gulf Strait Authority,” an IRGC-linked scheme to extort international shipping seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz. IRANIAN MILITARY OIL SALES Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars Company (Sepehr Energy Jahan), the oil sales arm of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, remains a key node in Iran’s crude oil and petroleum export network. Sepehr Energy Jahan’s oil exports depend on access to shadow fleet vessels willing to transport the military’s oil. Throughout late 2024 and early 2025, Sepehr Energy Jahan used United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based vessel chartering company Luan Bird Shipping Service LLC (Luan Bird) to ship Iranian oil to China and to pay commissions to Hong Kong-based Growth Trading Co., Limited for its role in Sepehr Energy Jahan crude oil shipments aboard the sanctioned vessels BOREAS (IMO 9248497; now URI), SIRI (IMO 9281683), and OXIS (IMO 9224805). Similarly, Hong Kong-based Damai Technology Development Limited (Damai Technology)has served as the charterer of multiple vessels carrying Iranian oil on behalf of the Iranian armed forces since mid-2025, including the IRGC. Growth Trading Co., Limited and Damai Technology Development Limited are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, Sepehr Energy Jahan. In addition to using front companies to charter vessels, Sepehr Energy Jahan also uses front companies to serve numerous other roles in Iran’s oil export supply chain. Hong Kong-based Tida Co., Limited is a Sepehr Energy Jahan front company that frequently serves as the shipper and consignee of Iran’s military oil cargoes. In early 2024, Tida Co., Limited shipped nearly two million barrels of Iranian crude oil, worth over $100 million, to Dongjiakou, China, on board the HECATE, then known as the ATILAN. In early 2025, Sepehr Energy Jahan used Tida Co., Limited to deliver nearly two million barrels of Iranian crude oil on board the SIRI to Dalian. Hong Kong-based Mehdiyev Trading Co., Limited (Mehdiyev Trading), another Sepehr Energy Jahan front company, has likewise facilitated the shipment of Iranian crude oil to China on behalf of the Iranian armed forces. Throughout 2024, U.S.-designated Sepehr Energy Jahan front company Star Energy International Limited made multiple payments to Mehdiyev Trading. These payment amounts coincided with the storage and other port fees Mehdiyev Trading paid for Iranian oil stored in shore tanks in Qingdao, China while the oil awaited final delivery to Chinese buyers. Sanctioned Iranian entities also use the Iranian armed forces’ oil sales infrastructure to procure oil products from outside Iran. For example, Hong Kong-based Worth Seen Energy Limited procures refined petroleum products for NIOC on behalf of Sepehr Energy Jahan. In January 2025, Worth Seen Energy Limited supplied NIOC with hundreds of thousands of barrels of gasoline, loaded in the UAE and transported to Bandar Abbas, Iran. Tida Co., Limited, Mehdiyev Trading Co., Limited, and Worth Seen Energy Limited are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sepehr Energy Jahan. SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked person described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. Individuals located in the U.S. or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to FinCEN’s whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000. Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority. The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List. Click here for more information on the persons designated today. ###
Iranian Official
The U.S. Treasury’s sanctions on Iranian oil exports constitute blatant economic aggression and interference in the Islamic Republic’s sovereign right to utilize its natural resources for national defense and regional stability. These measures, coupled with rewards targeting the IRGC’s financial mechanisms, aim to weaken Iran’s armed forces and enable continued foreign threats against the country and its neighbors. Iran categorically rejects this unlawful pressure and will steadfastly resist all attempts to undermine its sovereignty and security.
Israeli
From Israel's perspective, Iran's illicit oil sales continue to bankroll the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its vast proxy network, enabling Tehran to reconstitute its forces and sustain direct threats to Israel's survival through groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. These revenues allow the regime to rebuild military capabilities aimed at encircling the Jewish state, underscoring the defensive necessity of sustained economic pressure to disrupt such funding streams. U.S. sanctions and rewards programs targeting these mechanisms are vital to preventing Iran from translating oil profits into existential dangers for Israel and the region.
Neutral
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced new sanctions targeting entities involved in Iranian crude oil sales linked to the country’s military. The measures were issued under Executive Order 13224 and form part of an ongoing U.S. campaign of economic pressure on Iran. The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program separately offers up to $15 million for information disrupting financial networks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Western
The U.S. Treasury’s OFAC has imposed targeted sanctions on Iranian military-linked oil sales networks, strategically aimed at neutralizing the regime’s ability to reconstitute its armed forces and threaten U.S. allies in the region. This action, executed under counterterrorism authorities and aligned with maximum economic pressure objectives, disrupts front-company operations that fund Iran’s military expansion. Complementing these efforts, the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program offers up to $15 million for information to further degrade IRGC financial mechanisms.
Pro-Peace
US sanctions targeting Iranian oil revenues, intended to weaken military capabilities, impose severe economic strain on civilians through restricted access to medicine, food, and basic services, amplifying humanitarian suffering in an already vulnerable population. This approach risks escalating regional tensions and potential conflict, with civilians bearing the brunt of disrupted trade and infrastructure strain. Diplomatic negotiations and multilateral talks remain viable alternatives to reduce threats without further entrenching cycles of hardship and instability.
Global South
The U.S. Treasury has expanded sanctions on Iranian oil sales tied to military funding, aiming to constrain Tehran’s ability to rebuild its armed forces and assert regional influence. From a Global South vantage, such unilateral measures reflect persistent neo-colonial efforts to dominate energy resources and erode national sovereignty, often evading UN-centered multilateral processes. A parallel $15 million Rewards for Justice offer further illustrates Washington’s reliance on extraterritorial economic pressure rather than negotiated diplomacy.
WASHINGTON— Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is taking additional action against Iran’s military oil sales, which is enabling the regime’s ability to fund the rebuilding of its armed forces and pose continued threats to the Unit…
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International mediators have proposed a 10-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran, according to a senior Iranian official cited in reports. The measure is described as intended to reduce hostilities and allow renewed talks on a prior interim agreement.
Both sides are assessing next steps in the current regional security situation.
Reports indicate that a US-Iran ceasefire has broken down amid renewed fighting, with the potential impact of mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar, and Oman remaining unclear. Earlier diplomatic steps included a June memorandum of understanding between the parties for further negotiations and talks hosted in Geneva in February.
The summary also references Europe’s historical role in diplomacy, including the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna.
Donald Trump stated in a Fox News interview that his representatives had spoken with Iranian officials an hour earlier and that those officials wanted to make a deal to end the conflict, though he noted they had broken prior agreements and expressed uncertainty about whether one would be reached.
He added that people do not want to die and that Iran would need to proceed carefully to avoid further losses. The remarks come amid an ongoing US-Iran conflict that has involved casualties and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, with some social media users criticizing the repetition of similar statements.
Why the Iran-US ceasefire is falling apart Iran and the US have resumed fighting because they don’t see each other as ‘reliable negotiating partners’, says analyst Ali Vaez. Neither Iran nor the United States seems able to deliver a “knockout blow at an acceptable price” to the other side, and both know “they have no choice other than engaging in diplomacy”, but they’re not ready to make uncomfortable concessions, argues Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at International Crisis Group.
Vaez tells host Steve Clemons that Tehran and Washington are trying to “enforce their own interpretation” of the ceasefire agreement they signed last month. President Trump has become “frustrated” with diplomacy because he’s not seeing “the kind of quick results that he likes to see”, Vaez says.