US Sanctions 12 Tied to IRGC Oil Shipments, Offers $15M

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on 12 entities it says were involved in routing Iranian crude oil to Chinese buyers and offered a $15 million reward for information on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ financial operations.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control identified a network operating out of Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Oman that used covert shipping practices, including previously sanctioned tankers, to move Iranian oil to Chinese ports. Treasury officials said the sales were worth tens of millions of dollars and that millions of barrels changed hands over the course of 2025. The announcement came just ahead of a summit between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

OFAC added three individuals and nine companies to the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals list. The public notice did not name the designated parties. Designation on the SDN list generally freezes any U.S. assets and bars U.S. persons from dealing with the targets.

Treasury documents describe the activity as using front companies registered in multiple jurisdictions and maritime concealment tactics to evade sanctions. The action follows a July 2025 designation that targeted the Golden Globe shipping network, which U.S. officials said handled hundreds of millions of dollars in annual IRGC oil sales.

Background materials released with the announcement state the goal is to deny the IRGC access to revenue that could underwrite weapons procurement and support for proxy groups in the Middle East. The department said the designations aim to cut designated networks off from international banking and commercial channels needed to move proceeds and arrange large-scale oil shipments.

The public notice did not identify any direct links to cryptocurrency. No crypto wallets, decentralized finance platforms or stablecoin issuers were named. Still, additions to the SDN list typically propagate through global sanctions databases used by banks, exchanges and compliance firms, which will update screening tools to flag the newly designated parties.

The measures add to a series of U.S. actions targeting Iranian oil exports that officials say bypass sanctions. Treasury officials have said cross-border shipping and opaque corporate structures have been used to facilitate sanctions evasion and require ongoing enforcement and monitoring.