From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
US imposes fresh sanctions on Iranian exchange house, shadow fleet vessels
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The Trump administration imposes sanctions on an Iranian foreign currency exchange house and what it says are front companies overseeing transactions on behalf of Iranian banks as the US maintains pressure on Tehran amid a ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.
The Treasury Department imposes sanctions on the Iran-based Amin Exchange, also known as Ebrahimi and Associates Partnership Company, which it says has a widespread network of front companies spanning multiple jurisdictions, including in the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Hong Kong.
The US also blocks 19 vessels it says are involved in shipping Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals to foreign customers.
The Treasury Department says Iranian exchange houses facilitate billions of dollars in foreign currency transactions a year, enabling the government to evade sanctions and access the international financial system. It says the front companies oversee hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions on behalf of Iranian banks.
“Iran’s shadow banking system facilitates the illicit transfer of funding for terrorist purposes,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says in a release. “As Treasury systematically dismantles Tehran’s shadow banking system and shadow fleet under Economic Fury, financial institutions must be alert to how the regime manipulates the international financial system to wreak havoc.”
The sanctions block US assets of those designated and prevent Americans from doing business with them.
The US also designates vessels for transporting Iranian-origin oil, petroleum products and petrochemicals, including the Barbados-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tanker Great Sail, the Palau-flagged products tanker Ocean Wave, and the Panama-flagged chemical/oil tanker Swift Falcon.
The Times of Israel Community.