The Treasury Department has sanctioned a fraudulent ship registry network that gave Iran's shadow fleet false flags, and a Turkish company that services sanctioned Iranian airlines, in the latest action under Operation Economic Outcast, the administration's campaign to sever the Iranian regime's remaining economic lifelines.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted the network of India-based Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, who, operating from Chandigarh, defrauded maritime regulatory administrations in multiple jurisdictions to set up false flagging authorities. Their schemes provided false flags and fake certifications to sanctioned vessels carrying Iranian petroleum, including vessels operating on behalf of the Iranian military and its proxies.
"As we have said many times, under Operation Economic Outcast, you are either with us or against us," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air."
Treasury also sanctioned Türkiye-based Fugo Ground Services Inc, which holds direct service agreements with U.S.-sanctioned Iranian carriers including Iran Air Tour, Saha Airlines, Sepehran Airlines, Varesh Airlines, Taban Airlines and Ata Airlines — and began providing services to several of those carriers in the weeks after they were designated on September 8. The designations were made under Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran's petroleum, petrochemical and aviation sectors; the property of those sanctioned is blocked and U.S. transactions with them are prohibited.
Treasury warned that falsely flagged vessels carry no valid protection and indemnity insurance, meaning a shadow fleet tanker sailing under a fake flag could cause billions of dollars in damage to the economies of countries in whose waters it operates, and issued a new alert warning the maritime industry of the sanctions risks of dealing with potentially falsely flagged vessels. Operation Economic Outcast, announced by Bessent on August 24, has Treasury mapping the networks, facilitators and financial channels Iran uses to smuggle oil, evade sanctions and fund terror, with anyone who keeps doing business with the regime risking being cut off from the U.S. financial system.
For American ports and coastal communities, the action matters directly: it pushes uninsured, falsely flagged tankers — ships that could leave U.S. taxpayers and coastal economies holding the bill after a spill or collision — further from the legitimate shipping system, while cutting the oil revenue Iran uses to fund its military and proxies.
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