Israel slaps first-ever shipping sanctions on Iran’s dark tankers as tensions soar
Measures target tankers said to be involved in the secret fund-raising operation for proxy militant groups | Israel opened a new front against Tehran on Tuesday with the country’s first-ever shipping sanctions by ordering the seizure of 18 tankers allegedly involved in selling Iranian oil to finance militant operations. ● The measures are aimed at vessels involved in ‘dark’ ship-to-ship oil transfers with a US-sanctioned tanker off the coast of Syria, according to Israeli officials. ● The operation, said to have been overseen by senior Hezbollah official Muhammad Qasir, involved the export of Iranian crude for refining in Syria. ● The refined oils from Syria were then loaded onto the Iranian-flagged 46,267-dwt Jasmine (built 1996) before the oil was transferred for final delivery to smaller tankers over several months from December 2022. ● The STS operations were necessary after the US sanctioned Jasmine in 2019 as part of its own crackdown on the network, said officials. ● The measures come amid a background of high tensions in the region, with Israel braced for possible attack from Iran and its regional militias following the killings of senior Hezbollah and Hamas officials in Beirut and Tehran within the last week. ● Eight of the tankers targeted by Israel were blacklisted after October 2023 but never publicly announced by its sanctions body, the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing.
■ Israel signals readiness for pre-emptive strikes against Iran, Hezbollah (MEMO)