U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent warns Iran sanctions facilitators ‘we know who you are’ as Washington targets law firms and shipping networks

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned companies and individuals helping Iran evade sanctions that Washington would identify and sanction them, as the Treasury Department announced a new round of measures targeting legal and shipping networks tied to Iranian trade.

“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,” Bessent said Wednesday.

“Iran’s facilitators must make a choice: Either you are with us or against us. We know who you are, we know what you’re doing, and we will continue to take action.”

The Treasury Department sanctioned Karnakis & Karnakis, a law firm operating in Greece and Panama, accusing it of providing corporate and legal services for years to shipping companies involved in transporting Iranian oil, petroleum products, petrochemicals and steel.

Treasury said the firm helped establish companies used to obscure the ownership of vessels linked to Iran’s sanctions-evasion networks, including operations that benefited the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and the Houthis.

The U.S. also imposed sanctions on shipping agents in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates that Treasury said supported Iran’s shadow fleet.

Separately, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an administrative subpoena as part of an investigation into a Greek bank’s potential ties to Iran and requested information from six other European banks about relationships with sanctioned Iranian financial institutions.

The measures are part of Operation Economic Outcast, a Treasury campaign launched in August to cut Iran off from revenue and financial networks used to evade U.S. sanctions.