U.S. Unveils More Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Shadow Fleet

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U.S. Unveils More Sanctions Targeting Iran’s Shadow Fleet

The Treasury Department also targeted a top independent Chinese refinery that it said was a major buyer of Iranian petroleum.

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Kharg Island, Iran’s main hub for oil exports, in 2017. The Trump administration broadened its effort to squeeze Iran’s oil industry on Friday with a range of sanctions.

Credit...

Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images

By

Alan Rappeport

Economic policy reporter

April 24, 2026,

4:52 p.m. ET

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The United States rolled out a blitz of sanctions on Friday, targeting 40 shipping firms and vessels that it identified as being part of Iran’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, as the Trump administration broadened its efforts to

cripple the Iranian economy.

The Trump administration also imposed sanctions on an independent Chinese refinery, Hengli Petrochemical Refinery, which is one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products.

“Treasury will continue to constrict the network of vessels, intermediaries and buyers Iran relies on to move its oil to global markets,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in

a statement

released by the department. “Any person or vessel facilitating these flows — through covert trade and finance — risks exposure to U.S. sanctions.”

The United States has dramatically changed its approach to sanctions on Iran in recent weeks. After

granting a monthlong exemption to sanctions that allowedi the sale of some Iranian oil in March, the Trump administration imposed more aggressive sanctions, in addition to mounting its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz

in parallel to Iran’s

. The reversal was intended to choke off the oil revenue that Iran uses to power its economy.

Iran relies heavily on its

shadow fleet of tankers

to evade Western sanctions in transporting oil to Asia.

Much of the Iranian oil that is sold to China is purchased by its independent “teapot” refineries. Hengli is China’s second largest such refinery, and it has purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude from the Revolutionary Guards Corp, which

wields pervasive military, political and economic clout

throughout Iran.

Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter for The Times, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters.

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