Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has launched Operation Economic Fury, a campaign targeting Iran's illicit oil networks and terror financiers with new sanctions. The US Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels, including the network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. The measures include warnings of secondary sanctions and the non-renewal of oil purchase licenses expiring April 19.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Fury on Wednesday, describing it as the financial equivalent of a military bombing campaign under a maximum pressure stance. The initiative targets illicit oil networks, terror financiers, and global banks aiding Tehran. The Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on over two dozen entities, centering on Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani's petroleum empire. His network uses front companies like Oriel Group and House of Shipping in the United Arab Emirates, Marshall Islands, and India to manage a shadow fleet generating billions for Iran and Russia, according to the Treasury. Bessent stated, “Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury by targeting regime elites like the Shamkhani family that attempt to profit at the expense of the Iranian people.” The operation also addresses an oil-for-gold scheme by Lebanese Hizballah financier Seyed Naiemaei Badroddin Moosavi, who smuggled Iranian oil to Venezuela's former regime under Nicolás Maduro, exchanging it for gold transported via Mahan Air to Tehran and laundered in Turkey, in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations. The US will not renew general licenses allowing purchases of Iranian and Russian oil, set to expire on April 19 after permitting oil loaded before March 11 to reach destinations. Bessent told reporters, “All that oil has been used.” The administration warned two major Chinese banks of secondary sanctions if Iranian funds flow through their accounts, noting China's purchase of up to 90% of Iran's oil exports. Bessent seeks Gulf Cooperation Council cooperation to freeze Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps assets and floated a US reinsurance program for Strait of Hormuz shipping amid high insurance rates. General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US military will actively pursue Iran's dark fleet globally, including in the Pacific, with 13 vessels already turning back and over 570 identified by United Against a Nuclear Iran. More than 1,000 entities have been sanctioned since the campaign began.
