Trump Begins Sanction Campaign Against Tehran’s “Oil Network”

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled on Thursday the first round of sanctions against Iran under President Trump’s second term, reinforcing his campaign pledge to ramp up “maximum pressure” on Tehran. The move targets Iran’s oil network, which supplies discounted crude to China, generating billions in revenue that Treasury officials say helps fund regional militant groups. 

“The oil was shipped on behalf of Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff (AFGS) and its sanctioned front company, Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars (Sepehr Energy). This action includes entities and individuals in multiple jurisdictions, including the PRC, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as several vessels,” the Treasury stated in a press release, adding those “targeted” sanctions were designed to disrupt Iran’s “oil network” to ship to China. Three ships were sanctioned, including one very large crude carrier and two Aframaxes tankers. 

More color on Sepehr Energy via public records data… Upstream ownership might explain why this entity was targeted by OFAC. 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent stated, “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.”

“The United States is committed to aggressively targeting any attempt by Iran to secure funding for these malign activities,” Bessent noted.

The move from the Treasury follows Trump’s announcement on Tuesday in “restoring maximum pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, denying Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad.” 

Trump said he would “modify or rescind existing sanctions waivers and cooperate with the Secretary of Treasury to implement a campaign aimed at driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.” 

Under Biden’s first term, Iran turned on the crude oil export spigots, much of which was shipped to China (read: What Sanctions? China Imports Record Amount Of Iranian Oil).

Bloomberg quoted shippers and analysts following the Treasury’s announcement as overwhelmingly saying the targeting of a number of tankers carrying Iranian oil stopped short of “maximum pressure.”

The Biden-Harris era of loose enforcement of sanctions on Iranian oil exports to China is over. Trump and the Treasury’s move this week should serve as a clear warning shot to Tehran.