Washington expanded its campaign against Iran’s oil trade Wednesday, slapping sanctions on five Hong Kong-registered shipping companies and three firms linked to the Marshall Islands for moving Iranian crude to China.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added the companies and eight tankers to its Specially Designed Nationals list under Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran’s petroleum and petrochemical sectors. Six of the eight vessels were implicated in delivering Iranian crude to China during 2026, some shipments involving millions of barrels, officials said.
The sanctioned Hong Kong firms are Billion Nexus Int’l, Confident Apex, Marinova Freight, Nevada Spirit, and Qi Hang Ship Management. The Marshall Islands-linked companies are Branch Saying International Trading, Ocean Tranquility, and Vast Mighty. The tankers fly flags from Barbados, Vanuatu, the Marshall Islands, and Mozambique.
Washington also blacklisted two Iran-based insurance entities, Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, accusing them of coercing commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz into buying “insurance” against risks largely created by Tehran. The Treasury alleges the scheme channels revenue to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued the regime is under severe economic strain and hunting for cash, saying Washington would not allow international shipping to bankroll IRGC activity.
The designations are part of a broader push. The State Department reports that more than 100 vessels linked to Iran’s shadow fleet have been sanctioned in 2026 alone. The measures complement ongoing US naval interdiction operations in the region, where the Navy has been stopping and inspecting ships suspected of carrying Iranian weapons or oil.
Under the sanctions, all property belonging to the listed entities in the US or controlled by US persons is blocked. Dealings with them are generally prohibited without OFAC authorization. Non-US companies that do business with the sanctioned parties also face secondary sanctions risk.
The move targets a well-known gap in the sanctions regime. Iran has for years relied on a network of obscure shipping companies, frequent reflagging of vessels, and opaque insurance arrangements to keep its oil moving to buyers in China and elsewhere. Beijing has been the biggest buyer of discounted Iranian crude, often through intermediaries that make the transactions hard to trace.
Wednesday’s action signals that Washington is narrowing the options available to those intermediaries.