The US government has announced sanctions against three people and nine companies involved in Iran's oil shipments to China, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
This move comes days before a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where he is expected to press for help resolving the standoff with Iran.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated individuals and entities that helped Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sell and ship its allotment of Iranian oil to China using a series of front companies.
The sanctions are aimed at depriving the Iranian government and military of funding for weapons, its nuclear program, or support for proxies in the region.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the Trump administration will continue to use sanctions as a tool to cut off the Iranian regime from financial networks used to carry out terrorist acts and destabilize the global economy.
The State Department has also announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the disruption of the financial mechanisms of the IRGC, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.
The IRGC relies on shell companies to arrange and receive payment for its allotment of Iranian oil shipments, highlighting the need for increased scrutiny in monitoring financial networks.
This latest move builds on sanctions imposed in July 2025 on Golden Globe, a Turkey-based company that handles hundreds of millions of dollars in IRGC oil sales annually.
The use of shell companies to facilitate illicit transactions highlights the need for increased vigilance in monitoring financial networks.
