The United States Treasury Department has targeted participants in Iran’s shadow fleet along with a Greek law firm, marking a broadening of Washington’s efforts to isolate the Iranian government. The newly announced measures encompass three shipping companies and the Athens-based firm Karnakis & Karnakis, which authorities allege has facilitated illicit shipping operations for years.
Treasury officials stated that clients of the targeted law firm have been given a one-month window to wind down their business operations with the entity. The actions form part of a broader, renewed economic pressure campaign dubbed Operation Economic Outcast, which seeks to compel Tehran into negotiations regarding the war launched by President Donald Trump with Israel in late February.
“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 an official statement announcing the measures.
Legal experts note that directly targeting a law firm in connection with sanctions enforcement is an unusual move, though not entirely unprecedented. Alex Zerden, a former U.S. sanctions official and founder of Capital Peak Strategies, pointed out the rarity of such designations within standard enforcement actions.
To prevent logistical and environmental complications, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has permitted cargo currently aboard vessels tied to the newly sanctioned companies to be offloaded until November 20. According to Jeremy Paner, a partner at Hughes Hubbard & Reed who monitors oil and petrochemical designations involving Iran, this grace period is a standard practice designed to prevent mariners from becoming stranded at sea and to avert potential environmental hazards stemming from abandoned tankers.
Since the launch of Operation Economic Outcast, Washington has targeted various regional financial institutions, aviation companies, and shipping entities engaged in commerce with Iran. Despite these widening designations, the administration has so far avoided taking measures against China, which imports approximately 90% of Iran’s oil and serves as a primary economic lifeline for the regime, to mitigate potential economic blowback and retaliatory measures.
