Iran blacklisted 45 tankers that purportedly violated its protocols when transiting the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to fine the vessels or confiscate their cargo if they did so again.
The Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in an X post Sunday that the ships could be fined, detained or have their cargo — including crude oil and liquified natural gas — confiscated.
Other vessels assisting the blacklisted ships could also be penalized, warned Tehran’s new authority over the waterway.
Some of the blacklisted ships included a United Arab Emirates’ ADNOC Logistics and Shipping vessel, ADNOC’s subsidiary Navig8 Tankers, as well as a Saudi Arabian national shipping carrier Bahri.
The threats from Tehran followed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s warning Friday that Iran would soon face the “toughest sanctions in history” that could “collapse the regime.”
On Sunday, Bessent posted on X: “We are now entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary.”
The US Treasury is readying an announcement related to what entities could face secondary sanctions for still doing business with Iran, Reuters reported.
Both actions are aimed at crippling Tehran’s economy, which was already experiencing heightened inflation before the war.
Bessent and other Cabinet officials are hopeful the economic pressures will help bring an end to the six-month conflict with the US.
Iran has promised “crushing, punishing and devastating” consequences in response to potential sanctions, claiming any other nations that support the economic penalties will be assisting in an “act of war” against Tehran.
The US has maintained a naval blockade since a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran fell apart in early July, hampering Tehran’s oil exports while ships from other nations have been allowed to pass through the strait.
/
Follow The Post’s coverage of the war in Iran:
There’ve been just 16 ships exiting the critical oil chokepoint in the past 24 hours, compared with more than 100 before President Trump started the war on Feb. 28.
Still, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on X last week, “7-day average of oil leaving the Strait is over 8 million barrels a day. Make no mistake, thanks to the U.S. Navy, oil is flowing through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil has typically entered and exited the strait.
Even some Iranian officials have also signaled publicly that the war is nearing an end.
“The war must come to an end at some point,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a speech Friday, according to Tehran-based state media. “It is better that we demonstrate our strength and dignity today and tell the world that we have won and that we are ending the war.”
“No matter how much military power we have, if people are hungry and we do not have financial circulation and economic growth, we will not endure,” added Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in other remarks reported by Iranian state media.
“As someone who has experienced war, [I] understand the true value of peace,” Ghalibaf also said.
Bessent is prepared to announce the new economic actions at 1 p.m. ET on Monday.
