US sanctions company facilitating shipments of Iranian crude oil

The United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned a United Arab Emirates-based shipping company for facilitating the shipment of Iranian crude oil on behalf of the country's military, it announced April 4.

The company, Oceanlink Maritime DMCC, operated a fleet of over a dozen vessels the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said were "deeply involved" in Iranian commodities shipping, including transactions that helped finance Iran's Armed Forces General Staff and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. One crude oil tanker, HECATE, recently loaded $100 million of cargo from via a ship-to-ship transfer from the DOVER, a tanker OFAC sanctioned in November 2023.

OFAC designated 13 Oceanlink vessels as blocked property. It also announced the update of a sanctions list to note the name of an already-sanctioned vessel, YOUNG YONG, had been changed to the SAINT LIGHT, in a possible attempt to hide the vessel's identity.

"We are focused on disrupting Iran's ability to finance its terrorist proxy and partner groups and support to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said in a statement. "The United States will continue to use our full range of tools to target the illicit funding streams that enable Iran's destabilizing activities in the region and around the world."

Latest Iran sanctions effort

Treasury's announcement was the latest in a flurry of US-imposed sanctions on Iran. On March 26, Treasury sanctioned key Houthi rebel financial facilitator Sa'id al-Jamal, whose network comprises an array of companies and ships used to move Iranian commodities through forged documents and various other deceptions. That was the sixth round of sanctions on al-Jamal and his network.

Experts disagree on the efficacy of US sanctions on Iranian oil production. Some question whether Iran is motivated to change its behavior in the face of extended sanctions, and whether sanctions are meaningfully impeding Iran from bringing its oil to market, while others argue that pressure has consolidated more power and economic control in the hands of Iranian military officials, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which helps fund proxy groups throughout the Middle East.

Nonetheless, while Iran holds 12% of the world's proven global oil reserves, and aims for higher output targets, its production has plateaued in the face of sanctions, according to a March 27 S&P Global analysis. Iran has targeted crude production capacity of 5.7 million b/d by 2031. That would roughly double the 2023 average of 2.82 million b/d, according to the Platts OPEC+ survey by S&P Global. S&P Global forecasts production of 3.2 million b/d in 2024 and 2025.