The United States announced new sanctions against Iran on Thursday targeting its oil minister, in the latest move in President Donald Trump's drive to exert "maximum pressure" on Tehran.
The new sanctions also target some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Trump re-imposed a "maximum pressure" policy on Iran in February that includes efforts to drive its oil exports to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and funding militant groups.
Petroleum Minister Mohsen Paknejad "oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars' worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export," Treasury said in a statement.
"The Iranian regime continues to use the proceeds from the nation’s vast oil resources to advance its narrow, alarming self-interests at the expense of the Iranian people,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has called for a new nuclear deal with Tehran while reinstating his policy of sanctions.
"Treasury will fight and disrupt any attempts by the regime to fund its destabilizing activities and further its dangerous agenda," said Bessent.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Treasury also designated owners or operators of vessels that have delivered Iranian oil to China or lifted it from storage there, it said. Those were in multiple jurisdictions, including India and China, it said.
Iran's military relies on a vast shadow fleet of ships to disguise shipments of oil worth billions of dollars to China.
Thursday's designated vessels include the Hong Kong-flagged Peace Hill and its owner Hong Kong Heshun Transportation Trading Limited, the Iran-flagged Polaris 1, the Seychelles-registered Fallon Shipping Company Ltd, and the Liberia-registered Itaugua Services Inc, Treasury said.
It also designated the Panama-flagged Corona Fun, which it said has manipulated automatic identification systems to disguise efforts to ship Iranian oil, and the San Marino-flagged Seasky, for transporting fuel oil on behalf of Iran's national oil company to China.
The sanctions block U.S. assets of the designated entities and prohibit Americans from engaging in any transactions with them.
The U.S. Department of State is designating three entities and three vessels as blocked property, it said.
The latest sanctions come after the Trump administration sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urging negotiations and warning of possible military action if Iran refused.
Khamenei called the threats "unwise," as Iran has officially ruled out direct talks as long as sanctions remain.
During Trump's first term, which ended in 2021, Washington withdrew from the landmark 2015 deal that imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.
After the Trump administration reimposed sanctions in 2018, Tehran gradually rolled back its nuclear commitments.
Iran held fresh nuclear talks in February with Britain, France and Germany following renewed engagement in November.
