The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned individuals affiliated with an international network accused of selling millions of barrels of Iranian oil to China in an effort to fund Iran’s armed forces and terrorist proxies.
The new sanctions were imposed days after President Trump vowed to put “maximum pressure” on Iran.
“The United States will not tolerate Iran’s destructive and destabilizing behavior and is today sanctioning an international network that channels illicit revenue to the Iranian military,” the State Department said in a statement announcing the sanctions.
The oil was shipped to China on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) by Sepehr Energy, which the Trump administration describes as a “front company” for the Iranian military.
The illicit crude oil shipments identified by the Trump administration generated “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue for the Iranian regime, money that the US adversary also uses to fund its nuclear weapons program, according to the Treasury Department.
“The Iranian regime remains focused on leveraging its oil revenues to fund the development of its nuclear program, to produce its deadly ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, and to support its regional terrorist proxy groups,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
“The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities,” he added.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control found that Sepehr Energy and its affiliate companies falsified maritime documents “to obfuscate the Iranian origin of the oil that it trades and transports” to China and other overseas buyers.
“This revenue stream generates billions of dollars for the AFGS each year, which is used to fund Iran’s military and proxies and their destabilizing activities around the world,” according to the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The agency noted that the Iranian regime also took steps to “hide the true name” of the Anthea – a Comoros-flagged and sanctioned oil tanker involved in the shipping scheme – and that the India-based company that provided crews for the vessel also falsified documents that were presented to port authorities.
The Treasury Department designated two other ships – the Panama-flagged CH Billion and the Hong Kong-flagged Star Forest – as acting as a “shadow fleet” for Iran for their role in transporting Iranian oil to China.
“As recently as January 2025, these vessels onboarded Iranian crude oil from storage in the PRC, part of a scheme involving Iran’s military, which stands to profit from the sale of the oil on these vessels,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control said.
The Treasury Department has frozen the US assets of several individuals connected to the scheme.
The new sanctions come after Trump, 78, signed an executive order earlier this week to reimpose “maximum pressure” on Tehran.
As part of the order, Trump directed Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to tighten sanctions on the theocracy’s oil sales and enforce violations of existing restrictions in a bid to reduce its exports to “zero.”
