Washington: The Trump administration has announced a fresh round of sanctions targeting Iran and its proxy Lebanese Hezbollah, escalating pressure on Tehran amidst calls for a return to nuclear negotiations and a broader crackdown on its destabilizing activities across the Middle East.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that “as President Trump has made clear, Iran’s behavior has left it decimated. While it has had every opportunity to choose peace, its leaders have chosen extremism.”
The latest sanctions primarily focus on extensive networks accused of facilitating the transport and purchase of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil. A significant portion of these illicit proceeds, according to the Treasury Department, has directly benefited Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated foreign terrorist organization.
Among the individuals targeted is Iraqi businessman Salim Ahmed Saeed, who is accused of orchestrating schemes to smuggle Iranian oil by disguising it as, or blending it with, Iraqi crude. The Treasury Department highlighted that Saeed’s companies have profited from these illicit activities since at least 2020, utilizing ship-to-ship transfers and forged documents to conceal the oil’s true origin and sell it as legitimate Iraqi oil to buyers in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Saeed is also accused of bribing Iraqi parliament members and government officials to facilitate these operations.
In addition, several vessels identified as part of Iran’s “shadow fleet,” which is used to covertly deliver sanctioned oil, have been blacklisted. These vessels enable the Iranian regime to generate revenue by transferring oil from sanctioned ships to unsanctioned ones before shipping the cargo to buyers, particularly in Asia.
The Treasury Department also designated seven senior Hezbollah officials and one entity associated with Al-Qard Al-Hassan (AQAH), a financial institution believed to be controlled by Hezbollah. These individuals are accused of facilitating Hezbollah’s sanctions evasion and enabling illicit financial transactions.
These new sanctions underscore the Trump administration’s continued “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, aiming to cut off its revenue streams and curb its support for regional proxies like Hezbollah. The move comes shortly after Iran announced a suspension of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), further escalating tensions between Tehran and Western powers.
