US widens Iran sanctions to oil network and digital wallets

The United States expanded sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector on Tuesday, with the Treasury Department saying it was taking further aim at a network linked to petroleum shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said the department froze more than $130 million held in digital wallets tied to Iran's central bank.

The Treasury Department said the action was part of its effort to increase economic pressure on Iran after what it called resumed destabilizing attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. The move followed a fourth straight day of US strikes against Iran and the reimposition of a naval blockade. Iran, in turn, struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization.

Iran started blocking the strait, a key route for energy transit, after US-Israel attacks in February. Washington imposed an initial blockade on Tehran's ports from mid-April to mid-June.

The latest measures target more than 50 individuals, entities and vessels that Treasury said helped Iranian authorities profit. Treasury said the Shamkhani network remains central to Iran's oil exports and has expanded into global commodities trading. It said sanctions have now been imposed on more than 200 individuals, entities and vessels operating under Shamkhani's patronage.

Shamkhani was the son of security official Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Both were killed on February 28, the first day of US-Israeli attacks and the start of the Middle East war.

Bessent said Treasury had sanctioned multiple wallets tied to the Central Bank of Iran, leading to the freeze of more than $130 million. He said the United States would continue to follow financial flows and deny Iran access to proceeds from what he described as illicit revenue schemes.

Experts cited in the report said digital asset platforms have been used to get around sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards and as a financial safe haven for civilians affected by high inflation. Iran had largely been cut off from the global financial system by US and European sanctions already in place for years before the war, while cryptocurrency offered citizens and businesses a way to transact internationally.