A Wall Street Journal report predicted that an Iranian shadow fleet is effective at keeping the oil flowing and preventing any deal. However, the report ignored many facts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is imposing financial sanctions unlike any seen before. The Pentagon is also pursuing the Shadow Fleet militarily at sea.
The United States is taking coordinated action to sever the Iranian regime’s access to the revenue streams that fuel its regional aggression and global terrorism.
The Department of State is sanctioning numerous entities, individuals, and vessels that form the backbone of Iran’s illicit oil economy, directly targeting the financial lifelines of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s military apparatus.
As part of this action, the State Department is designating eight entities and identifying eight vessels as blocked property for their transportation of Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products, and also designating three entities and an individual in connection with trade in Iranian-origin petrochemical products.
Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury is sanctioning key players in an oil sales network that has moved tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil worth billions of dollars (State).
According to Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, this is more proof that Trump is pursuing all options on the table at once. In addition to talking while shooting, he is also sanctioning.