The United States unveiled sanctions on Friday (January 23, 2026) targeting Iran's "shadow fleet" said to be supporting the country's oil exports, as Washington steps up pressure over the government's crackdown on protesters.
The Treasury Department took aim at nine vessels and their respective owners or management firms, which U.S. officials said "collectively transported hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil and petroleum products to foreign markets."
UN rights council decries ‘unprecedented’ crackdown in Iran, deepens scrutiny
The department charged that revenue from these products is being diverted to fund "regional terrorist proxies, weapons programs, and security services."
The move comes as a U.S.-based rights group said that it had confirmed the deaths of more than 5,000 people during protests that swept Iran, adding that most of them were demonstrators targeted by security forces.
