October 20, 2026 | The Wall Street Journal
A Buyout for Iran’s ‘Shadow Fleet’
The U.S. can exploit sanctions to suppress the black market.
October 20, 2026 | The Wall Street Journal
A Buyout for Iran’s ‘Shadow Fleet’
The U.S. can exploit sanctions to suppress the black market.
Excerpt
The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 17 of Iran’s so-called shadow-fleet vessels on Oct. 8. The aging network of tankers illicitly transports Iranian crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products to foreign markets. Less than a week later, the administration was reportedly considering easing sanctions on shadow-fleet vessels and allowing them to carry oil not subject to sanctions in an effort to bring down record high freight rates. Those discussions, a U.S. official told Reuters, include the possibility of lifting sanctions on tankers “on an individual basis” so they can change hands.
A blanket lifting of sanctions would be a retreat, but enabling individual ships to change hands could be a smart strategy. Washington should create incentives for U.S.-aligned operators to buy ships out of Iran’s black market and put them to legitimate use in the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr. Maleki is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He served as a senior sanctions official at the Treasury Department, 2017-25.