US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran's shadow fleet
The US Treasury Department imposed fresh sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting individuals, networks and 17 vessels for transporting Iranian crude, oil products and petrochemicals. The action forms part of "Operation Economic Outcast," which the department says aims to cut Iranian funding for the war with the US, missile construction, cyberattacks and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. A Treasury official said Iran has about 20 million barrels of crude oil left on vessels outside the blockade of Iranian ports that the US reimposed on July 14.
Why it matters: The designations extend the use of sanctions as the primary instrument of US economic pressure on Iranian oil exports, a central strand of the briefing's coverage of economic statecraft.