U.S. sanctions Iran’s oil shadow fleet as nuke talks start

The Trump administration is sanctioning parts of Iran’s energy sector while talks over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions unfold in Oman.

The State Department said Friday the sanctions would affect entities tied to 14 shadow fleet vessels that illicitly trade Iranian petroleum. Iran uses the fleet to avoid existing sanctions and raise money for the regime’s “malign” activities, according to the department.

“Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran,” the department said. “So long as [the] Iranian regime attempts to evade sanctions and generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund such oppressive behavior and support terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will act to hold both the Iranian regime and its partners accountable.”

The administration tightened the screws on Iranian oil as American and Iranian officials visited a palace in Muscat, the capital of Oman, to set a framework for negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that talks were off to a “very good start,” but that officials needed to speak with senior leaders in their respective countries.

Mr. Trump ordered a devastating strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities last year.

Now he’s pressing the Islamic Republic to strike a deal that makes it impossible for it to develop nuclear weapons. He said the U.S. might bomb Iran again if it doesn’t make a deal.

Mr. Trump sent a fleet, including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, to the region to show Tehran he might carry out his threat.