The United States and Britain imposed a new round of sanctions Thursday on Iranian oil networks, shipping companies and individuals accused of helping Tehran skirt restrictions and fund destabilizing activities abroad.
The U.S. Treasury Department said its measures targeted 13 entities based in Hong Kong, China, the United Arab Emirates and the Marshall Islands, as well as eight vessels. The designations focused on Greek national Antonios Margaritis and his network of companies and crude oil tankers accused of transporting Iranian petroleum exports in violation of U.S. sanctions.
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US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
(Photo: Suzanne Plunkett / POOL / AFP)
Treasury named Ares Shipping Limited in Hong Kong, Comford Management in the Marshall Islands and Hong Kong Hangshun Shipping Limited among the entities hit. Crude tankers added to the list include the Panama-flagged Adeline G and Kongm, and the Lafit registered in Sao Tome and Principe.
Separately, the U.S. State Department said it sanctioned two China-based terminal and storage operators for handling imports of Iranian oil carried on tankers already under sanctions. The firms were identified as Qingdao Port Haiye Dongjiakou Oil Products Co. in Shandong province and Yangshan Shengang International Petroleum Storage and Transportation Co. in Zhejiang province.
Britain also announced parallel measures, sanctioning Iranian oil magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani — the son of a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — and four companies in the shipping, petrochemical and financial sectors. The Foreign Office said the sanctions, which include an asset freeze and a travel ban on Shamkhani, were aimed at disrupting a global network that supports Iran’s overseas operations, including activities in Ukraine and against Israel.
“Iran’s reliance on revenues from trading networks and connected organizations enables it to carry out its destabilizing activities, including supporting proxies and partners across the region and facilitating state threats on UK soil,” Britain’s Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer said.
The Iranian embassy in London denounced the sanctions as “unilateral and illegal measures” based on “baseless allegations.” Shamkhani, who has also been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, could not be reached for comment. Washington has accused him of controlling a vast fleet of container ships and oil tankers through intermediaries that facilitate Iranian and Russian oil sales.
The coordinated measures come as Western officials warn of a growing Iranian threat spanning proxy warfare, espionage, cyberattacks and plots against dissidents and Jewish communities abroad. British lawmakers said last month the government was ill-prepared to confront Tehran’s expanding reach, which they said does not yet rival the scale of challenges posed by Russia or China but is becoming increasingly multifaceted.
Iran has rejected such claims, calling them “politically motivated and hostile allegations.” It has also suspended nuclear talks with Washington following U.S. and Israeli strikes on its nuclear sites in June. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, though its top diplomat said this week that the “moment for effective talks” with the U.S. has not yet arrived, while cooperation with the UN atomic watchdog will continue at some level.