US sanctions Iran ‘shadow fleet’ it says fuels violent protest crackdown

Iran’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which the US has recently imposed, is one of a number of sanctions directed at it.

The government’s deadly crackdown on protesters was directly related to the sanctions being placed on the nine vessels and their respective owners or management companies, according to US officials’ statements on Friday.

The department claimed that the fleet “collectively transported Iranian oil and petroleum products to foreign markets in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars.” It is claimed that money earned from these goods is being used to fund “regional terrorist proxies, weapons programs, and security services.”

The actions, according to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, “target a crucial aspect of how Iran finances the funds used to oppress its own people.”

Treasury will continue to track the tens of millions of dollars the regime has allegedly extorted from Iranian banks, he added.

According to Tommy Pigott, a spokeswoman for the US Department of State, the sanctions will “constrained its ability to finance the repression of Iranians and international malign behavior.”

According to Iranian state television, 3, 117 people were killed in the crackdown on demonstrations that were first started by store owners against the high cost of living. Soon, they grew into a more extensive anti-government movement.

4, 251 protesters, 197 security personnel, 35 people under the age of 18, and 38 bystanders, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), were among the victims of the wave of demonstrations.

The hundreds of people who were detained during the demonstrations have been given harsh sentences by Iran.

US President Donald Trump had threatened to strike Iran in response to the killings, but as protests began to ebb, he later retaliated. Trump did, however, announce late on Thursday that the US was stationed in the area with a sizable naval force.

He told reporters, “We’re watching Iran.”

High Commissioner Volker Turk urged Tehran’s leaders to “end their brutal repression” during an urgent session of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday.

The government killings were described as the “worst mass murder in Iran’s contemporary history,” according to Payam Akhavan, a former UN prosecutor of Iranian-Canadian descent.

The 47-member body then voted in favor of a resolution expanding and expanding the authority of independent investigators looking into human rights violations in Iran, with 25 in favor, seven opposed, and the remaining abstaining.