WASHINGTON, July 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The United States on Wednesday slapped sanctions on a shipping empire controlled by the son of a top political advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions were being imposed on companies and vessels operated by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, the son of Ali Shamkhani, who has been subject to US sanctions since 2020.

It said Hossein operates a fleet of more than 50 tankers and container ships that transport Iranian and Russian oil and petroleum products, generating tens of billions of dollars in profit.

"The Shamkhani family's shipping empire highlights how the Iranian regime elites leverage their positions to accrue massive wealth and fund the regime's dangerous behavior," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

The Treasury Department said more than 115 individuals, corporate entities and vessels were being sanctioned, including companies based in Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and other countries.

"The over 115 sanctions issued today are the largest to-date since the Trump Administration implemented our campaign of maximum pressure on Iran," Bessent said.

The Treasury Department said Hossein's network "comprises a vast fleet of vessels, ship management firms, and front companies... that launder billions in profits from global sales of Iranian and Russian crude oil and other petroleum products, most often to buyers in China."

The State Department said separately that it was imposing sanctions on 20 entities, including companies in India, Indonesia, Turkey and the UAE, for their involvement in the trade of Iranian petroleum, and 10 vessels.

The sanctions are being imposed more than a month after the United States attacked Iran's nuclear program, hitting a uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, south of Tehran, as well as nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz.

State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the sanctions are intended to "disrupt the Iranian regime's ability to fund its destabilizing activities, including its nuclear program, support for terrorist groups, and oppression of its own people."

"As President (Donald) Trump has said, any country or person who chooses to purchase Iranian oil or petrochemicals exposes themselves to the risk of US sanctions and will not be allowed to conduct business with the United States," Bruce said.

She said the United States will continue to put "maximum pressure" on Tehran until it "accepts a deal that advances regional peace and stability and in which Iran forgoes all aspirations of a nuclear weapon."