Treasury sanctions a Greek and Panamanian law firm, shipping agents and nine vessels it ties to Iran’s shadow fleet

The US Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on a law firm based in Greece and Panama that it accuses of aiding Iranian shipping^2,6.

The action also targets shipping agents and nine vessels in what the department presents as a crackdown on Iran’s shadow fleet³. The Treasury said four firms were designated under Operation Economic Outcast, its campaign against the networks that move Iranian cargo^1,4.

The law firm, Karnakis & Karnakis, did not immediately respond to a request for comment². The Treasury accuses it of helping Iran hide its shadow fleet; the coverage reviewed does not include the firm’s response to that allegation^2,7.

The targets span legal services, shipping operators and agents, and the vessels themselves, in a package billed as sweeping new sanctions on the shadow fleet^3,4,8.

What Washington says

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent framed the designations as a warning to anyone servicing Iranian trade. “Iran’s facilitators must make a choice: Either you are with us or against us. We know who you are,” he said in a statement^1,5.

Bessent also warned that those supporting Iranian shipping operations would face consequences³.

The department described the package as part of a wider effort against multiple firms that it says support the shadow fleet network⁸. These are the Treasury’s own characterisations; the designations themselves do not establish the conduct alleged.

Why it matters to investors

This round reaches beyond the vessels to the professional services around them, naming a law firm and shipping agents alongside nine ships^2,3.

Bessent’s warning that facilitators are either with Washington or against it, and that the department knows who they are, is addressed to those intermediaries as much as to Tehran^1,5.

The action follows an earlier set of sanctions against Iran that Bessent announced at the Treasury in August⁶. Operation Economic Outcast is the banner under which the department now groups these designations, and Wednesday’s four firms are its latest targets⁴.

For shipping, commodity and insurance companies with exposure to the trade, the question the round raises is how far further designations will reach along the chain of agents and advisers that the Treasury says serve the shadow fleet^3,8.