In a statement, Treasury said the ships had carried millions of barrels of Iranian crude, petroleum products and petrochemicals to markets in South and East Asia, Iran International reported.
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The network spanned more than a dozen jurisdictions and relied on international front companies.
“Treasury is starving the tyrannical regime in Tehran of the money it uses to wage war in the region, and we will continue exposing those who enable the regime’s oil sales,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “No enabler of Iranian sanctions evasion is safe from the full force of Treasury’s authorities.”
Among the targets were the Cameroon-flagged Shenzhen, which Treasury said had transported more than 3.5 million barrels of Iranian crude since November 2025, and the Vanuatu-flagged Tina 5, which carried more than 1.5 million barrels in August. Designated companies include firms in China, Hong Kong, the Marshall Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Treasury said vessels regularly enter and leave the network, and pledged to continue monitoring attempts to evade sanctions.
Thursday’s measures, issued under Executive Order 13902, freeze the targets’ assets under US jurisdiction and generally prohibit US persons from dealing with them. Foreign financial institutions risk secondary sanctions for knowingly facilitating significant transactions for designated parties.
Treasury also removed the Hakuna Matata and Pinocchio from its sanctions list after they left Iran’s shadow fleet and were sold to non-sanctioned, US-aligned operators. Both vessels had been listed in June 2025.
Launched on August 24 and dubbed Economic D-Day, Operation Economic Outcast seeks to isolate Iran’s revenue and financial networks by increasing pressure on foreign companies and governments that sustain trade with Tehran.
The campaign expanded sanctions exposure across digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping, threatening foreign businesses with exclusion from the US financial system. The broader authorities do not automatically sanction every foreign business in those sectors, but allow Washington to designate additional targets.
