Washington, DC [US], July 15 (ANI): In a significant expansion of Washington's intensified economic offensive against Tehran, the United States has penalised over 50 individuals, enterprises, and maritime vessels suspected of involvement in an unlawful Iranian oil transportation and sanctions-circumvention ring.

The punitive measures, declared by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, specifically focus on the maritime trade operations controlled by Iranian energy tycoon Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani.

The enforcement action blacklists six people, including Asghar Aghili Dehkordi and Behzad Moghadas, alongside 24 corporate entities and 20 maritime vessels.

US authorities have accused the targets of enabling the circumvention of trade restrictions via a convoluted web of monetary brokers, logistics operations, maritime managers, and foreign shell corporations.

The Treasury Department stated that any assets or legal interests tied to the sanctioned parties that fall within American legal jurisdiction are to be blocked immediately.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the enforcement operation is designed to disrupt a critical monetary lifeline that sustains the Iranian administration.

'The Iranian regime survives on deception, and the Shamkhani network is one of its most profitable engines,' Bessent stated, noting that the economic restrictions are intended to disable the monetary systems that allow threats against American national security and international maritime transit.

The rollout of these financial penalties coincides with escalating instability within the Strait of Hormuz, following fresh assaults directed at merchant vessels, which American officials blame on Tehran.

The US Department of State stated that the penalised network leveraged both Iranian citizens and foreign nationals, proxy corporations, and overseas setups to market restricted merchandise and route the financial earnings back to Tehran.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott stated that the economic measures are engineered to break apart Shamkhani's 'illicit shipping and sanctions evasion network', which Washington claims has enabled the bypass of trade bans and funded Iranian offensives against merchant vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz. (ANI)