Tag Archives: shadow fleet

Military

USA Countering Iran’s Exploitation of the Strait of Hormuz

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This Press Statement issued for The Silo via Thomas “Tommy” Pigott, Spokesperson

Yesterday, July 29, 2026, the United States designated the Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, two Iranian entities backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), for running coercive “insurance” schemes that extort international shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz.  These entities manufacture risk—including the threat of vessel seizures—and then charge commercial vessels for coverage against dangers created by the regime itself, generating revenue that sustains IRGC operations and Iran’s broader campaign of regional destabilization.

A Shadow Fleet

The United States also designated eight companies operating vessels that have transported illicit Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products to China and the United Arab Emirates.  These vessels form part of Iran’s “shadow fleet,” which the regime relies on to evade sanctions.

Yesterday’s designations support the U.S. Navy’s enforcement of a blockade on Iranian ports and coastline and add to a sustained campaign that has now sanctioned more than 100 vessels this year.

The United States will continue to hold Iran accountable for weaponizing vital international waterways and evading sanctions through shadow fleet operations and deceptive financial schemes.  Protecting navigational rights and freedoms in the Strait of Hormuz is a global interest, and the United States will act, alongside partners, to ensure Iran cannot hold international commerce hostage to finance its malign activities.  We will continue working with allies to isolate the regime diplomatically and economically until it ceases its destabilizing behavior.

This most recent action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13902, which targets Iran’s financial, petroleum, and petrochemical sectors.  It continues the robust sanctions campaign targeting Iranian oil sales in support of the President’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 (NSPM-2).  For more information on today’s action, please see the Department of the Treasury’s press release.

Military

US Sanctions To Disrupt Iran’s Weapons Procurement Networks and Shadow Fleet

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Press release via Thomas “Tommy” Pigott, Principal Deputy Spokesperson

February, 2026. The United States is designating individuals and entities involved in multiple weapons procurement networks based in Iran, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates supporting the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile and advanced conventional weapons (ACW) development.  We are also sanctioning numerous shadow fleet vessels and their owners or operators that have collectively transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products.           

The Iranian regime continues to mismanage its economy, with catastrophic consequences for its people, and prioritizes funding of foreign proxies and missiles over the basic needs of ordinary Iranians. Today, sanctions target the illicit funds that the regime uses to advance its malign and destabilizing ends.   

This action implements President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 2 by countering the Iranian regime’s aggressive development of missiles and other asymmetric and conventional weapons capabilities.  It also denies the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps access to assets and resources that sustain its destabilizing activities.  The nonproliferation designations today support the reimposition of United Nations restrictive measures and sanctions on Iran, which occurred as a direct result of the Iranian regime’s “significant non-performance” of its nuclear commitments. 

The United States will continue to use all available means to expose, disrupt, and counter the Iranian regime’s ability to procure revenue to develop its weapons programs and fund its destabilizing behavior. 

The Department of the Treasury’s action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, E.O. 13949, the Iran conventional arms authority, and E.O. 13902, which authorizes sanctions related to key sectors of Iran’s economy. For more information on today’s actions, please see the Department of the Treasury’s Press Release.

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