US sanctions target Iran's auto and rail sectors as blockade chokes ship lanes
Treasury designates Iran Khodro, SAIPA and the state railway under Operation Economic Outcast, targeting foreign suppliers in Indonesia, the UAE and Turkey.
The US Treasury on Thursday sanctioned Iran’s rail and automotive sectors and their foreign suppliers, part of “Operation Economic Outcast” aimed at cutting funding for the war, missile construction, cyberattacks and the IRGC.
Designations hit automakers Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA — over 90 per cent of Iran’s domestic auto market — plus the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railway Company, Raja Passenger Trains Company and Sherkat-E Rah Ahan-E Khamle-O-Naghle. Suppliers in Indonesia, the UAE and Turkey were also targeted.
“Directly targets Iran’s enablers and lays the groundwork for the United States and our partners to drain the regime’s revenue once and for all,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
The move comes as a naval blockade chokes oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing Iran onto road and rail for petroleum, fertiliser and chemicals. Brett Erickson of Obsidian Risk Advisors said: “The blockade squeezed Iran at sea, sanctions increasingly isolate it by air, and now Washington is constricting its economic arteries on land,” adding: “You cannot choke an economy like this without choking the livelihoods of the people who depend on it.”
Separately, Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Russian firm A7 a significant transnational criminal organisation, accused of helping firms including Iranian ones evade sanctions via 70+ shell companies and AI-created fraudulent trade records, per New York Times reporting.
Bessent said the action sends “a clear message that if you facilitate illicit finance for America’s adversaries, you will lose access to the US financial system.”
More on this topic: all World stories
