US sanctions law firm over aid to Iranian shipping

The US Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Karnakis and Karnakis, a law firm based in Greece and Panama, saying it had for years provided legal assistance to Iranian shipping networks. The designations target the firm's role in Iranian shipping.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the firm had for years "set up shell companies to hide the true owners of vessels carrying Iranian oil, petrochemicals, and steel." He said the companies served as fronts for networks selling millions of barrels of Iranian oil to benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force and the Houthis.

"Whether you are conducting illegal oil transfers at sea or sitting in the corner office of a law firm, if you are supporting the Iranian regime, we will find you and sanction you," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a release. Karnakis and Karnakis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Treasury targets banks and agents in Iranian shipping probe

The US Treasury said the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network had issued an administrative subpoena to advance an investigation into a Greek bank, which it did not name. FinCEN issued requests for information to six other European banks over their relationships with Iranian financial institutions under US sanctions. The Treasury statement did not name the Greek bank or the six other European banks.

The department also imposed sanctions on Singapore- and UAE-based shipping agents that it said directly aid Iranian shadow fleet operations. The October 21 action also covered shipping agents and vessels that the Treasury said had supported illicit Iranian shipping activity. The Treasury said the designations were part of Operation Economic Outcast, its campaign against illicit Iranian shipping activity.

Greece responds to the latest Iran sanctions

On Thursday, the Greek finance ministry said it was implementing sanctions in place linked to Iran and that it backed efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. The Greek statement was a response to the latest Iran sanctions announced by Washington. The ministry said it had taken note of the US Treasury statement and that all available information was being evaluated, with measures taken under national, EU and international law.

US pressure campaign on Iranian shipping continues

Earlier this month, the Treasury imposed sanctions on Iran's auto and rail sectors under the same campaign, designating Iran Khodro and SAIPA, which represent more than 90 per cent of Iran's domestic auto market, along with the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company and two other rail firms. The department said the action targeted alternatives Tehran was using as a US blockade on Iranian oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz forced it to rely more on land transport for petroleum, fertilizer, chemicals and other goods.

The campaign, announced on August 24 as Operation Economic Outcast, aims to cut Tehran's funding for the war, missile construction, cyberattacks and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Bessent had said of the earlier action that it "directly targets Iran's enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime's revenue once and for all." Washington has held off striking Iran this month in the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28, and has instead continued the blockade of Iranian ports while issuing waves of sanctions on Iranian shipping networks and those the US says aid them.