Sanctions on Iran. US strikes “shadow fleet”

The US Treasury announced on Friday the imposition of sanctions on nine tankers and eight companies linked to Iran's “shadow fleet” transporting sanctioned Iranian crude oil. The decision is presented as an element of pressure on Tehran for killing protesters.

As announced in the statement, the sanctions covered eight ships flying the flags of Palau, Panama and Comoros: Sea Bird, Avon, Al Diab 2, Cesaria, Longevity 7, Eastern Hero, Aqua Spirit, Chiron 5 and Keel. At the same time, eight companies owning them, registered in the United Arab Emirates, Liberia, Oman and the Marshall Islands, were included on the list. These ships were supposed to be transporting Iranian crude oil.

The decision is presented as “an escalation of pressure on the Iranian regime for the killing of peaceful protesters.”

The Iranian regime is engaging in a ritual of economic self-immolation – a process that has been accelerated by President Trump's maximum pressure campaign. Tehran's decision to support terrorists at the expense of its own people has caused a sharp decline in the value of Iran's currency and living conditions, Finance Minister Scott Bessent said in a statement.

“Today's sanctions target a key element of how Iran raises funds to repress its own people. As previously noted, Treasury will continue to track the tens of millions of dollars that the regime has stolen and is desperately trying to transfer to banks outside of Iran,” he added.

The step was taken in the face of President Trump's partial abandonment of threats of military attacks on Iran. On Thursday, Trump again claimed that as a result of the threats, the regime in Tehran canceled the planned executions of over 800 protesters. However, he did not rule out taking military action, noting that an “armada” of ships was heading towards Iran.

– We have plenty of ships heading that way, just in case. I'd rather nothing happened, but we're watching them very closely. We have a fleet heading that way and maybe we won't have to use it, the US president told reporters aboard Air Force One during his return from Davos.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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