Carrot And Stick: Treasury Slaps Iran With New Oil Sanctions As Trump Promises ‘More Hopeful Future’

The Treasury Department slapped fresh sanctions on the Iranian oil sector on Tuesday as President Donald Trump is eyeing a potential nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is placing sanctions on approximately two dozen entities involved in Iran’s illegal international oil trade in line with the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime, the Treasury Department announced. The new sanctions are meant to crack down on Iran’s capacity to use oil proceeds to fund terrorism across the Middle East, and they are being imposed as the Trump administration is working to find a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program.

“Today’s action underscores our continued focus on intensifying pressure on every aspect of Iran’s oil trade, which the regime uses to fund its dangerous and destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “The United States will continue targeting this primary source of revenue, so long as the regime continues its support for terrorism and proliferation of deadly weapons.”

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The Treasury Department accused Sepehr Energy — the parent company of several Iranian oil companies — of working with several Chinese and Hong Kong-based companies to obscure the origins of Iranian oil being shipped to China and other buyers. The Trump administration alleges that Sepehr Energy is the affiliate of the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, and that the company uses a complex network of “shadow” tankers and front companies to dodge existing sanctions and generate cash for the Iranian regime.