US slaps sanctions on ten companies and eight tankers tied to Iran’s oil network

The US has imposed sanctions on ten companies and eight tankers connected to Iran’s oil trade, escalating a campaign that now stretches from shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz to cryptocurrency wallets linked to Tehran’s central bank. The move comes as Iran simultaneously intercepted three vessels in the strait, a waterway that handles roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply. The shadow fleet crackdown The sanctions target a network of companies spread across Hong Kong, the UAE, and Oman that have been facilitating Iranian oil shipments, primarily to China. Four of the sanctioned firms are based in Hong Kong, four in the UAE, and one in Oman, with three individuals also designated in the action. The eight tankers designated under these sanctions represent the physical infrastructure of that evasion network. This latest round builds on designations from earlier in 2026, including sanctions targeting Chinese refineries in April that were processing Iranian crude. From tankers to tokens In mid-July 2026, the US Treasury froze over $130 million in digital asset wallets allegedly linked to the Central Bank of Iran. Four prominent Iranian crypto exchanges were sanctioned as part of...