US Confirms Continuation of Measures to Undermine Iran's Ability to Use Illegal Oil Trade

Washington, Oct 8 (KUNA) -- The U.S. State Department reaffirmed on Thursday Washington’s ongoing commitment to undermining the Iranian regime’s ability to use illegal oil trade to fund its “malign” activities, as part of the “Economic Pariah” campaign. In a statement, the State Department said, “The United States, under the Economic Pariah campaign, is employing all available diplomatic and economic tools to isolate the Iranian regime, cut off its economic lifeline, and protect the United States and its partners, while ensuring freedom of navigation.” The statement added that the State Department took steps today to dismantle Iran’s “parallel fleet,” or shadow fleet, which finances the regime’s malign activities, by imposing sanctions on 10 entities, six individuals, and five tankers involved in the trade of Iranian-origin oil or petrochemical products. It noted that the U.S. Department of the Treasury also imposed sanctions earlier today on 17 entities and tankers belonging to the parallel fleet, emphasizing that these measures would deprive the Iranian regime of funds and prevent it from using the parallel fleet to transport Iranian oil and petrochemicals and to circumvent U.S. sanctions. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had previously announced sanctions on the “aging tanker network” that the regime relies on to transport billions of dollars worth of oil and petroleum products to international markets. The Treasury Department stated in its announcement that this action “effectively neutralizes the vast majority of the remaining shadow fleet network in Iran.” (End) A.M.M. / F.A.S.