'Economic Fury': US Treasury sanctions 12 entities for enabling IRGC oil sales to China
US Secretary Bessent vows to 'cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts'
The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced Monday it was designating 12 individuals and entities for their roles enabling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to sell and ship Iranian oil to China as part of the Trump administration's ongoing "Economic Fury" maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations were aimed at depriving Iran's military of funding as it attempts to regroup. "Economic Fury will continue to deprive the regime of funding for its weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions," Bessent said. "Treasury will continue to cut the Iranian regime off from the financial networks it uses to carry out terrorist acts and to destabilize the global economy."
Among those designated are three senior officials of the IRGC's Shahid Purja'fari Oil Headquarters: Ahmad Mohammadi Zadeh, identified as the unit's chief; Samad Fathi Salami, its finance chief; and Mohammadreza Ashrafi Ghehi, its commercial chief. The Treasury said the three coordinated payments and managed foreign currency for the IRGC through a network of front companies, including Golden Globe Demir Celik, a cover company previously sanctioned in July 2025.
Nine additional companies operating across Hong Kong, Dubai, Sharjah, and Oman were also designated for facilitating IRGC oil shipments. Among them are Hong Kong Blue Ocean Limited and Hong Kong Sanmu Limited, described as cover companies involved in multiple oil shipments worth tens of millions of dollars in 2025, as well as Dubai-based Ocean Allianz Shipping LLC, Sharjah-based Atic Energy FZE, and Oman-based Zeus Logistics Group. Dubai-based Universal Fortune Trading LLC was separately designated for providing support to the National Iranian Oil Company.
The Treasury said it had already disrupted billions in projected Iranian oil revenue, frozen nearly half a billion dollars in regime-linked cryptocurrency, and cracked down on Tehran's shadow banking networks. It warned it was prepared to impose secondary sanctions on foreign financial institutions facilitating Iran's activities, including those connected to China's independent "teapot" oil refineries. "Any person or vessel facilitating the illicit trade of oil or other commodities, through covert trade or financial channels, risks exposure to US sanctions," the Treasury said.